Once Upon Another Time: Book 1
by Artemis Sherwood
Summary: Diana mysteriously falls into the universe of the Doctor. Sometimes he wears a bowtie and a fez, sometimes a leather jacket, other times a wool scarf. But each time he's the Doctor and each time he's /her/ Doctor. But something's not quite right. Shouldn't he be in love with Sarah Jane and Rose and River? (3, 4, 7-11/OC) Inspired by "Jumping Through Time" by AnaDona
1. The End of the World

**A/N: Hello all. I'm finally back and with a new passion for Doctor Who. This new story of mine will feature Doctors 1 and 3-12 and even if you don't watch Classic Who, I think you'll still enjoy the story. At least I hope so. If you don't know much of anything about Classic Who, you could always try reading up on episode summaries so you know the storyline of the episodes I do use. (Chapter titles are episode names.)  
This particular chapter may start off as confusing, but I think it makes more sense once you get a few paragraphs in. And the Doctor may or may not be slightly out of character... Please try to enjoy and no flames. Thanks!  
Also, this is all written on my iPhone so mistakes will be made...**

* * *

The Face of Boe wheeled slowly towards me, the tiniest hint of a smile on his old face. I smiled sweetly at him as he approached.

"Do you remember me?" he asked, stopping a few feet away from me.  
"How could I not, Jack?" I replied with a grin.  
A low grumbling noise was his response. "It is good to see a familiar face after so many years. I have missed you and the Doctor."  
I briefly wondered how he could miss me when I was meeting him for the first time- and in a dream no less!- but quickly pushed the thought away at Jack's sadness. "Oh, Jack. Have you been alone after the Doctor left?"  
"After Torchwood..." He sighed sadly and I felt my eyes fill with tears. "After they all died and I didn't... I was very much alone."  
"Jack, I'm so sorry. I wish I could do something-"  
"Just seeing your face again has brought me more joy than I have felt in many long years."  
"I-"  
"Diana!"  
I turned towards the man who had shouted my name in a thick Northern accent and gasped; the Doctor! I'd never dreamt about this Doctor before, although I certainly wasn't complaining. He was a sight I definitely didn't mind seeing. Within seconds, I was enveloped in strong leather-clad arms and a very sexy Northern accent kept echoing in my ears.  
The Doctor suddenly pulled back and firmly pressed his lips against mine. I squeaked in shock, but accepted the kiss. In fact, I even returned it. (After all, it's not every day that one of your favorite incarnations of the Doctor decides to snog you.)  
He was the one to pull away, gazing down at me as I sucked in a breath. My heart was pounding heavily in my chest and I was sure everyone in the room could hear it.  
"Diana," the Doctor breathed.  
I looked up at him, wide-eyed and breathless. "Y-Yes?"  
"I haven't seen you in over five years. Where have you been?"  
"Uh..." I blinked and chewed nervously on my lower lip. "Home..."  
The Doctor's eyes widened and his shoulders slumped. "Your accent," he muttered. "It's still thick... You've never met me before, have you?"  
I shook my head. "No, but I-"  
"Why did you kiss me?" he snapped, pain shining in his icy blue eyes.  
I paused before answering, figuring I could say the absolute truth without any consequences. Remember: dream. "Well, you're kind of really sexy in the leather and the boots with your accent and all... And I like you best all Northern-y..." When he said nothing, I bit back a sigh. It was hurting me to see him in pain because of something I'd done. "Doctor? I-I'm sorry... Please don't be angry. I didn't mean to-... to hurt you. I'm sorry."  
The a doctor met my eyes and slowly exhaled through his nose. Finally he smiled and h'd his left hand out to me, but I could see the now faint shimmer of pain in his old eyes.  
"Come on, then. Lets go find Rose. She's wandered off."

* * *

"Rose? Are you in there?" When there was no response, the Doctor pressed a white button on the control panel an he doors slid open. He saw Rose sitting down and starting out the viewing panel, and turned to me. "How'd you know she was in here?"

"Spoilers," I replied with a smile.

Releasing my hand, he walked down the steps and sat on one opposite Rose. "Whaddayou think, then?"  
"Great. Yeah, fine. Once you get past the slightly psychic paper." Rose paused for a moment, then continued. "They're just so alien. You look at 'em... and they're alien."  
"Good thing I didn't take you to the Deep South."  
I snorted, startling Rose. She jumped slightly and turned to look at me. "Who are you?" she asked curiously.  
"Diana," I replied, moving to stand beside the Doctor.  
"She's a friend of mine," the Doctor added. "Good friend. Fantastic friend..." He blushed when I smiled and caught his gaze, and quickly looked away.  
Rose nodded and relaxed. "So where are you two from?  
"All over he place," the Doctor said.  
"I'm from Earth," I added.  
Rose's eyes put up in joy. "Like me? You're like me?"  
"Very much so, Rose. Well, other than the being American bit."  
She smiled at me, obviously relieved not to be the only human around. But then her smile faded slightly as she seemed to contemplate a new thought. "They all speak English," she noted.  
The Doctor shook his head and leaned back, supporting his weight with his right forearm. "No, you just hear English. It's a gift of the TARDIS. The telepathic field gets inside your brain and translates."  
"It's inside my brain?"  
"In a good way," the Doctor added hastily.  
"Your machine gets inside my head. It gets inside my head and it changes my mind, and you didn't even ask?"  
"I didn't think about it like that."  
"No, you were busy thinking up cheap shots up the Deep South." Rose stared at the Doctor, confused and annoyed. "Who are you, then, Doctor? What are you called? What sort of alien are you?"  
I noticed the Doctor's body freeze for a millisecond before he sat up and set his jaw, looking out the viewing panel. "I'm just the Doctor."  
"From what planet?!"  
"Well it's not as if you'll know where it is!" he snapped.  
"Doctor," I breathed. "It's alright."  
"Where are you from?" Rose asked again, determined to get an answer.  
"What does it matter?"  
"Tell me who you are!"  
I wanted to try to keep the Doctor from getting too upset. "Rose-"  
"This is who I am!" the Doctor yelled, his hands shaking slightly. "Right here, right now, alright? All that counts is here and now, and this is me."  
"Yeah, and I'm here too 'cause you brought me here," Rose retorted, "so just tell me."  
The Doctor got to his feet and walked forward, stopping a few feet away from the viewing panel. I quickly followed him in the hopes of comforting him. It didn't matter to me that I was in a dream because I finally had the chance to do something I'd always wanted to do.  
His arms were crossed over his chest as he stared at the burning Earth below us. I gently touched his bicep and looked worriedly up at him. "Doctor?" I asked softly as I took another step closer to him. "Whatever we are to each other -friends, companions, significant others- just know that I'm here. If you wanna talk or punch something, I'm available."  
He turned to look at me, his face softening. "Diana, I-... I thought you were-..."  
"What?"  
He started to reply, but stopped himself and looked away. Rose took this opportunity to come stand next to me and give her own shy version of an apology to the Doctor. After she did so, she took her cell phone and held it up like she was trying to get better reception.  
"Can't exactly call for a taxi," she mumbled. "There's no signal. We're out of range."  
"Just a bit," I said in sync with her, causing both of us to laugh.  
"Tell you what, Rose," the Doctor said, reaching around me and grabbing her phone. "With a little bit of jiggery-pokery..."  
"Is that a technical term, jiggery-pokery?" I asked playfully.  
"Yeah, I came first in jiggery-pokery," he replied, pointing his sonic screwdriver at Rose's phone. "What about you?"  
I shook my head. "Nah, Rose and I failed hullabaloo."  
He chuckled and handed Rose her phone. "There you go."  
She took the phone and called her mum. I quickly turned back to the Doctor and looked up at him. He looked back at me, his eyes flitting across my face.  
"Doctor, what is going on?"  
"Whaddya mean?"  
"You're acting like you know me. I mean, I know this is just a dream and all, but I don't understand."  
"A dream?" he repeated incredulously. "You think this is all a dream?"  
"Well, it has to be," I replied. "You're not real. Trust me, I know. I've fantasized about you enough times to know that you're not real."  
"You've fantasized about me?" he asked softly, his eyes growing wide.  
"Four, eight, nine, and eleven," I replied with a smirk. "definitely the sexiest ones. Although I do quite like ten. Oh, and twelve."  
"Sexiest?" he repeated.  
I nodded. "I like scarves and leather and bowties. Oh, and you're very sexy when you get angry. Also when you get protective. And when you're trying to be impressive."  
Suddenly Rose turned back to us, her brows drawn together in contemplation. "That was five billion years ago. She's dead now. Five billion years later and my mum's dead."  
"Bundle of laughs you are," the Doctor replied dryly.  
Without any warning, the whole space station rocked. I grabbed the Doctor's arm to keep from falling over. he looked around the room, then to Rose and I. "That's not supposed to happen," he said, confused.  
The Doctor grabbed my hand and Rose's, then took off running out of the room. I found it slightly difficult to keep up with the Doctor's quick pace and ridiculously long legs, and noticed Rose was having the same problem, if not at a lesser extent. So when we reached the observation gallery, I was quite out of breath.  
He released my hand and Rose's and started talking to the pretty tree lady about the engines. "Where's the engine room?" he asked her.  
"I don't know, bu t the maintenance duct is just behind our guest suite. I could show you and your wives."  
Rose, the Doctor and I shared a quick look of embarrassment. Smiling slightly, the Doctor gestured to both of us. "they're not my wives," he replied with a shrug. "I mean, Rose isn't and Diana isn't ye- Er, no. They're not- no."  
"Aprtners?" she asked.  
"No."  
"Concubines?"  
"Nope."  
"Prostitutes?"  
"Hey!" I protested, offended.  
"Whatever we are," Rose interjected, "it must be invisible. Do you mind?" The tree lady nodded her head in what I assumed was an apology. "Tell you what, you two go and pollenate. I'm going to catch up with family. Quick word with micheal Jackson."  
"Don't start a fight," the Doctor said seriously. "And Diana, stick with Rose. You'll be safe."  
"I'm more worried about you and pretty tree lady. You're always getting into trouble, Doctor."  
He just smiled. "Be back in a tick. Don't go getting into trouble."  
"And I want you back by midnight," Rose called after the two retreating figures of the Doctor and the tree lady. When they didn't respond, Rose grabbed my arm. "So what is it with you an' 'im? Are you dating or something?"  
I smiled and shook my head. "No. I just have a really, insanely large crush on him."  
"You care about 'im a lot, don't you?"  
"Yeah... I do. Not gonna lie, Rose. He means the world to me. Soemtimes he's all I can think about."  
Rose smiled, her tongue sticking out between her teeth. "I'd say that's a bit more than a crush."  
I blushed and looked away shyly. "I'll leave you to your deductions."  
She just laughed and tugged my arm. "Come on, you. Let's say hullo to Cassandra."  
When we reahed Cassandra, she was busy talking about her life back when she was a little boy on Earth. Rose was intrigued with the situation and asked, "What happened to everyone else? The human race. Where did it go?"  
"They say mankind has touched every star in the sky."  
"So... You're not the last human?"  
"I am the last pure human. The others... mingled." Rose raised an eyebrow and glanced at me as if to say 'Is she for real?' "Oh, they call themselves New humans and Proto-Humans and Digi-Humans, even Human-ish, but you know what I call them? Mongrels."  
"Right. And you... stayed behind?"  
"I kept myself pure."  
Rose scoffed and looked up and down Cassandra's body, or what was left of it. "H-How many operations have you had?" she questioned hesitantly.  
Casssandra replied with a haughty, "Seven hundered and eight. Next week, it's seven hundred and nine. I'm having my blood bleached." I looked at Rose and burst out laughing. She joined me and eventually had to lean against me for support.  
"Is that why you wanted a word? You both could be flatter. Especially the dark haired one. You have rather large cheeks and you could probably take off a good amount from your waist."  
My laughter immediately stopped and turned to tears. I turned and ran, tears clouding my vision. Aliens and beige hallways flew past me in a blur. I kept running so I could find a place to be alone and sob without any spectators. This caused me to run into a group of aliens I remembered worked for Cassandra in the episode. Before I could do or say anything, one of them hit me across the face and I blacked out.

* * *

I woke up to the sound of screaming. It was Rose screaming for the Doctor to save her and open the door. Looking around, I saw that we were in the viewing room from earlier and deadly sunlight was streaming through the broken glass. The computer kept repeating its notification of the sun filter descending. It was terrifying.

I sat up and saw Rose huddled on the floor by the door, shrieking whenever a ray of light would hit the wall close to her body. I jumped up, slightly disoriented, and ran towards her. "Rose!" I shouted over the noise of the computer and the breaking glass. "Come down here! It's safer!"  
She reached out for my hand and I took it, dragging her down to the lowest step in the room and laying down on my stomach next to her. The glass cracked more and more by the second and more sunlight continued to filter into the room. If the Doctor didn't hurry up and save the day like he normally did, then we'd be dead. And even though I was in a dream, I really didn't want to die.  
"Please, Doctor," I prayed softly. "Please, save us. Please."  
Within seconds, the glass began repairing itself and the computer continued to repeat its notification: sun filter rising. We were safe, we were alive, and it was all thanks to the Doctor. I sat up and laughed, hugging Rose within an inch of her life.  
"I can't believe it!" she cried as she returned the hug. "We're alive!"  
I pulled away and smiled. "The Doctor saved us. He did it."  
We both stood up and breathed a sigh of relief. We weren't dead and that was all that really mattered to either one of us.  
"Let's go find him," I said with a smile.

* * *

Rose and I were halfway back to the observation deck when the Doctor rounded a corner just ahead of us at full running speed. He called my name in relief, slowing his pace as he approached. I smiled fondly at him and he returned the gesture.

When we were only a foot apart, I threw my arms around his neck and rested my head on his shoulder. "Thank you for saving us. I thought I was going to die. We both did."  
The Doctor gently rubbed my back. "Ye of little faith," he replied softly. "I couldn't let anything happen to either one of you."  
I lifted my head and looked up at him. His eyes were sad and they struck my heart with a great deal of pain. "Doctor, what's wrong? Is it the tree lady?"  
"Jabe," he corrected.  
"Sorry. Are you sad because she died? She was trying to save everyone on this ship, like you were. If it weren't for her, then we'd all be dead Doctor. You, me, Rose, the Face of Boe... We're all here 'cause of her."  
"I know."  
I sighed and reached up to cup the Doctor's cheek. "Then why are you sad? Is there something else?" He shook his head. "Doctor. I know you. You have that 'I'm-sad-but-I'm-the-Oncoming-Storm-and-I-will-not -cry' look."  
"'s nothing."  
"Doctor, please. You can tell me. You can trust me, I promise. I swear to you, you can trust me with anyhting."  
The Doctor smiled sadly, leaning into my touch. His forehead was wrinkled and his eyes were closed. A low hum came from his throat, as if he were purring. The thought of the cold, hard, leather-clad Doctor purring caused me to smile. When he opened his eyes, he smiled in return and placed his hand over mine.  
"Maybe one day I'll tell you," he croaked, his voice rough and full of emotion. In an instant, he had transformed from a hurting and broken old alien to a man on a mission. "But first, we have to go to the observation deck."  
"Why?" Rose asked.  
"Hafta take care of something," the Doctor muttered. He pulled back and extended his hands to both me and Rose. "Now, then. Let's go."  
We didn't run this time. We walked at a leisurely pace, each of our hands clasped tightly in one another's as we stepped onto the lift at the end of the hall. None of us said anything, so the only sound in the lift was our breathing. But it was oddly comforting to hear Rose and the Doctor breathing and to have the Doctor's hand gently squeezing mine.  
Once we reached the observation deck, the Doctor was all business. While he was apologizing to Jabe's escorts for her death, I recalled the remaining events of the episode. I remmebered the Doctor letting Cassandra die as he watched on with his Oncoming Storm glare. And then I remembered how horrifired I was at his coldness every time I watched the episode.  
Was it my place to stop the Doctor from letting Cassandra die a horrible death? She obviously wasn't a "good guy", but I had always felt that letting her explode was a bit harsh. But surely it was alright to let her die since she came back in a later episode and sorted through some of her issues?  
Rose suddenly grabbed my arm, pointing at the solemn looking Doctor. She looked back at me with raised eyebrows and the hint of a smile. "You should go to him."  
"Me? Why?"  
She only smiled. "Go on."  
When the Doctor returned to us, I shyly put a hand on his arm. "You okay?" I asked softly.  
"Yeah," he replied gruffly. "I'm fine. I'm full of ideas, I'm bristling with them. Idea number one, teleportation through five thousand degress needs some kind of feed. Idea number two," he continued, approaching the ostrich egg Cassandra had brought with her and breaking it open, "this feed must be hidden nearby. Idea number three, if you're as clever as me then a teleportation device can be reversed."  
The Doctor pressed a button on the device in his hands, forcing Cassandra to appear on the observation deck again. "Oh, you should have seen their little alien faces- Oh."  
"The last human," the Doctor muttered in disgust.  
"So, you passed my little test. Bravo. This makes you eligible to join the, uh, Human Club."  
"People have died, Cassandra. You murdered them."  
"It depends on your definition of people, and that's enough of a technicality to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries. Thais me to court then, Doctor, and watch me smile and cry and flutter!"  
"And creak?"  
Cassandra paused, confused. "And what?"  
"Creak. You're creaking," he said with a sort of smile.  
"What?!" Cassandra shrieked as she dried and creaked. "I'm drying out! Oh, sweet heavens. Moisturize me, moisturize me!"  
"Doctor," I whispered as I looked up at him. "Doctor, please."  
"Where are my surgeons? My lovely boys? It's too hot!"  
"You raised the temperature," the Doctor said coldly.  
"Doctor-"  
"Have pity! Moisturize me! Oh, oh, Doctor. I'm sorry. I'll do anything!"  
"Help her!" Rose and I demanded. "Doctor, she's begging for mercy," I added.  
"Everything has its time and everything dies."  
"I'm too young!" Cassandra shrieked as she shriveled and dried before exploding.  
Rose gaspd and flinched, hiding slightly behind the Doctor. I turned to him and starred in frustration and mild confusion. He looked down at me and sighed.  
"Diana-"  
"You could've saved her," I said softly. "She was begging to mercy and you just let her die."  
"She tried to kill of us and her little cronies almost murdered you and Rose."  
"But she was begging, Doctor! And you just watched her explode! I know she's evil and totally screwed up, but-"  
"I thought I'd lost you once before, Diana, and I couldn't let her try to kill you a second time!" he shouted, firmly gripping my biceps and shaking me a little. "I thought I lost you those five years ago, I thought you were dead! I blamed myself for your death and I never thought I'd even see you again! I cannot bear to lose you again!"  
Despite his hold on my upper arms, I twisted my wrists to gently grip his forearms. "Doctor," I began softly, "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry. I don't like knowing that I've hurt you, but... Doctor, this isnt real."  
"What?" he asked incredulously.  
"This is a dream. It has to be. You're not real."  
"Of course I'm bloody real! Look at me!"  
I shook my head firmly. "I've watched you on the tv countless times, Doctor. I've seen your past and your future and I've fallen so helplessly in love with you, but you aren't real. Y-You can't be!"  
The Doctor sighed and let his chin fall down to his chest. His fingers tightened around my arms, then loosened. "Diana, please. I'm real. Believe me." He suddenly took my left in his and pressed it against the right side of his chest, then moved it to the other side. "Do you feel that? Two hearts, beating perfectly, both very real."  
"But... You can't be. You're a fictional character."  
"Not in this universe."  
"But-"  
"You have to trust me," the Doctor pleaded. "I know it's new and strange and confusing, but I would never lie to you. This is all real; the TARDIS, me, the way I feel about you." He smiled and moved his hands to cup my cheeks. "Trust me, Diana. Just trust me and believe me."  
I smiled in return. He must be telling the truth, he had to be. A dream like this wouldn't tell what it felt like to kiss him or hold his hand or feel his heartsbeat. I nodded and started to answer when I felt a strong tugging sensation in my stomach. My heart skipped a beat and I suddenly found it difficult to breathe. "Doctor," I gasped. "Doctor, I can't breathe! I can't-!"  
He stared at me, horrified. I said his name again, frightened beyond all belief. "Diana, just stay calm. It's going to be alright, I promise."  
"I can't-... Doctor, please help me! What's hap-." I couldn't speak anymore. My jaw felt frozen and my tongue felt like it was glued to the roof of my mouth.  
"You're alright," the Doctor told me as my vision grew fuzzy. I suddenly realized that I wasn't wearing my glasses. "Don't panic, don't be scared."  
I shakily grabbed at his coat lapels, gasping frantically for air. "I-I be-... I be-..." I passed out before I could finish my sentence.


	2. A Date With The Doctor

**A/N: My first adventure in the world of Classic Who. Today we feature Doctor number 8, one of my favorites. This chapter is an entirely original story that I decided to make up for Di and the Doc. (Although it's very vague...) Hope you enjoy!**

**I always pictured 8 as a romantic and poetic figure, a little softer and sweeter than any of the other Doctors. So that's why he is the way he is here. I also don't know a whole lot about his character, so I probably butchered him... Please forgive me.**

**Also, any readers know where I can find some of 8's audio dramas?**

I woke up frozen on my side, back in my familiar bed and without an alien in sight. My eyes were wide open as I slowly recalled my dream. Or was it a dream? I vividly remembered Nine kissing me and holding my hand and Rose and Cassandra. It had felt so real and wonderful, but now that I was awake I realized that it couldn't be true.

Sighing sadly, I sat up and reached for my glasses. I really only needed them for reading and seeing long distance, but wearing them constantly made me feel intelligent. So I just wore them all the time.

Then I crawled out of bed and shuffled towards the bedroom door. I felt that a shower would help clear my mind, not to mention make me smell a little less like leather and cologne and- Wait, what?!

I let out a tiny gasp and pulled bedroom door open, determined to get in the shower and eliminate the strange smells. But instead of the straw-colored walls of my Californian home, a brick and dark wood hallway met my gaze. Confusion and fear gripped my heart.

"Where am I?" I asked myself breathlessly.

I stepped out into the hallway and looked around; there wasn't anyone in sight and the only sound I could distinguish was a soft humming that seemed to slightly vibrate in the walls and floor. Although still present, the fear subsided a little and curiosity made itself known. My surroundings were quite beautiful in a classic, almost Victorian way and I wondered how I had gotten into such a place. And why did it seem so familiar?

Footsteps suddenly echoed around me, causing me to panic. I gasped and jumped backwards, bumping into the door I had just exited and falling back onto my rear end. A low groan of pain escaped my lips and I closed my eyes. I was ninety-nine percent sure I was about to die.

"Diana?"

I stiffened. Slowly opening both my eyes, I looked up at the source of the soft British voice. A handsome man in a dark green velvet coat, a cream patterned waistcoat, and a matching cream cravat was standing at my feet. His grey-blue eyes were soft and concerned and staring unashamedly at me.

"Doctor," I replied blankly.

"Are you alight?" he asked, kneeling at my feet and smiling slightly. "I didn't mean to startle you. I just thought I'd heard something. Apparently it was you."

I blinked, confused and quite shocked. What was he doing here in my room? Where exactly was my room, anyways? And how did he know me when I'd only met him as Nine?

Then I remembered the end of the world, the death of Cassandra, and the Doctor telling me he'd known me five years ago. Did he mean this?

"Doctor? How do you know me?" I asked cautiously.

He chuckled and gently placed a hand on my ankle. "We can play games later if you'd like, Diana. But right now we have some catching up to do."

"Doctor, I'm serious. I don't understand what's going on. I just saw you a few minutes ago, a future you, and you said you knew me. Now I'm here, wherever here is, and you know me again. What's happening?"

The Doctor's smile faded, much like Nine's had when I met him in my not-really dream. His eyes turned sad and he looked like a puppy who'd been hit by its master. (Pardon the unintentional pun.) "You're still very early, aren't you?"

"Early for what?"

"Do you have the journal I gave you?"

I tilted my head to the side a little, confused. "What journal?"

He nodded and looked down at the ground. "I thought as much," he said with a heavy sigh.

"Doctor, what are you talking about? Am I dreaming this time? Or..." I slowly reached forward and pressed my hands on his chest over his hearts. I smiled a little when I felt his heartsbeat. "You're not a dream," I said, relieved.

I looked up at the Doctor's face and saw that his smile had returned. His hands rested over mine like Nine's had, yet it wasn't the same feeling. It was the same man, yet it wasn't. He was the Doctor, but he wasn't the Ninth Doctor. The thought made me strangely happy.

"No. I'm not."

We were both smiling, our hands touching and growing warm. I started chewing on my lower lip after a few moments of silent staring. A blush gathered on my cheeks and I looked away as I whispered, "I'm glad you're not a dream."

One of the Doctor's hands came up to touch my cheek, making me blush even more. He gently urged me to look at him again and I did. "And I am glad to see you again. I haven't seen you in some time. You've grown younger, yet you are still as beautiful as ever."

I smiled and looked quickly away. "Doctor, I... I don't actually know what to say to that."

The Doctor laughed softly and stood up, pulling me to my feet with him. My hands were still on his chest and his hand was still on my cheek, but I didn't want either one of us to move. I think he knew that because the only movement he made for a few minutes was rubbing his thumb tenderly against my cheek.

My heart was thudding hard against my rib cage and my hands were even shaking slightly. The air around us suddenly felt stuffy and hot. All I could manage to do was alternate from looking at the Doctor's cravat to his eyes and face and back to his cravat. I didn't trust my voice to say anything without cracking or shaking, so I kept my mouth shut.

He stopped after a short while, but still cupped my face. "How about we have a talk? I have something to give you, too."

I looked up at him, his face hovering about three inches above mine. I briefly thought about how much I loved men who were taller than me. The Doctor certainly was taller than me, which meant I could imagine how perfect the height difference was if we were to ever, you know, kiss.

"Alright," I replied timidly.

* * *

I was sitting in a very comfy chair placed immediately next to the Doctor's with a cup of cold milk in my hands. We were in the TARDIS's console room and I found it very beautiful. Well, the entire scenery was beautiful. Including the books, the furniture, the Doctor... You know, lovely things of the TARDIS.

The Doctor was sitting in his chair with his hands folded over his waist. He was staring at me, not blinking and not speaking. An H.G. Wells book was on the table to his left, along with what looked like a present-wrapped book.

Feeling a little unsure of what to do and very self-conscious, I took a small sip of my milk. It was two percent, just the way I liked it, and he hadn't even asked me what kind I wanted. I was amazed and confused. How did he know what kind of milk I liked?

"Doctor? Wh-"

"Sorry! I was thinking." He snapped out of his strange trance and grabbed the packaged object, handing it to me with an almost giddy smile. "This is for you, my dear. You'll be needing it in the future. And I also suggest that you start writing in it now."

Setting my milk down, I gave the Doctor a confused smile and took the package from him. When I unwrapped it, I saw that it was a journal very similar to River's when she met the Eleventh Doctor. Except mine was a darker blue and much thicker, almost three times as thick. But nonetheless, I was beyond pleased to have such a lovely gift from none other than the Doctor himself.

I leaned forward and threw my arms around the Time Lord in a tight embrace. "Thank you, Doctor. It's beautiful."

He placed his hands on my lower back and returned the hug. "I am glad you like it."

"How could I not?"

"The TARDIS and I thought so as well."

I pulled back. "The TARDIS thought I should have this?" The Doctor nodded with a smile. I looked over at the console and said, "Thank you, sexy. It's perfect."

The Doctor laughed, his head thrown back and mouth wide open. "I love it when you call her that, Diana," he said between laughs. "It is the funniest and most touching thing I believe I've ever seen."

"Touching?" I questioned.

"My two favorite girls getting along like the best of friends. Nothing could be better."

I smiled and laughed a little as well. I ran my hand over the cover of my new book with a large smile. Upon opening it to the first page, I noticed a few sentences of mostly legible cursive writing signed at the end with "The Doctor"; he'd written a little note to me.

But before I could read it, the Doctor put his hand over the writing with a slightly red face. "Don't read it now. When you've gone you can, but wait until then. Please."

"Alright. I promise."

The Doctor smiled and relaxed, moving his hand away. "So where were you before you came here?" he asked a little shyly. "In our timeline, where were you?"

"I was in your future."

"How far?"

"Your next regeneration. Your ninth."

"Oh." He looked a little shy and red in the face when he asked his next question. "Do you... Do you like him more than you... like me?"

I smiled, leaning forward a little and placing my hand over his. It was awkward since his hands were resting on his lap, but he didn't seem to mind. He looked up at me with the hint of a smile and wide, hopeful eyes.

"I like both of you. Well, all of you." I blushed and looked away shyly. "You're one of my favorites. You, Nine, Three, Four, and Eleven."

"Really?"

"I don't know your other regenerations well enough to say how much I like them."

I quickly looked up at the Doctor to see him smirking. Embarrassed, I tried to pull my hand back but he wrapped his fingers around mine and stopped me. "I'm glad to know you like me so much."

My face was practically on fire because I was blushing so much. I tried to justify my odd comment by explaining. "I mean, I like you as any regeneration. You're always the Doctor and you're always fantastic and brilliant. I only mean that there are certain versions of you I am more attracted to... That is-... I mean-... I love you as any Doctor. I just love you even more like... this."

The Doctor's fingers twined with mine and he smiled fondly down at me. "You love me, do you?"

"D-Did I say that?" I asked shakily.

Eight smiled. "You've only met me twice and you love me? Have I made such an incredible impression on you already?"

I bit my bottom lip and avoided his gaze. "How did you know I've only met you twice? I don't remember telling you..."

"A long time ago, for me that is. You told me that you received your journal from me after you met me for the second time."

"Oh." I looked back at him, my hand still entwined with his and my heart pounding rapidly in my chest. "Don't throw me out for saying that I love you, Doctor. Please. I-I wasn't thinking-"

"Do you?"

"What?"

"Do you love me?"

"Yes," I said without a second's thought. "I mean… I like you. A lot. That is…" Immediately, I clapped my hands over my mouth.

The Doctor smiled and pulled my hands away from my face. He gently ran his fingers through a strand of my hair. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he kept his thoughts to himself.

The Doctor suddenly stood up and brought me with him. His eyes were alight with joy and I saw a spark of mischievousness in his face. He looked down at me in excitement. "Would you like to go on a trip with me?"

"In the TARDIS?" I responded with a wide grin.

"Where else?"

I wrapped my arms tightly around the Doctor's waist and rested my head on his chest. "Oh Doctor, thank you! I'd love to!"

He chuckled and returned the embrace. He gently unhooked my hands from his waist and walked briskly in the direction of the console. I followed close behind, excitement radiating from every inch of my body. I watched in silent awe as the Doctor flew his beautiful time machine with ease.

"How does lunch in eighteenth century Italy sound to you?" the Time Lord questioned with a knowing smile.

"It sounds perfect!"

He pulled a lever down, which sent us spiraling through the vortex. I gasped when we jolted and bumped through or flight, but soon found that I enjoyed the rush of adrenaline I felt in my blood. The sound of the TARDIS landing made me grin wildly.

When the ship had stopped moving, the Doctor turned to me with a smile. "Go change into something a little more appropriate for the time," he told me. "Can't have you starting a riot in the streets with your jeans and tshirt."

I blushed a little. "I don't know where to go..."

"Ah. Come with me, then. I'll show you."

He grabbed my hand and led me down the many hallways of the TARDIS. We took turn after turn, causing me to get terribly lost and I felt incredibly grateful for having the Doctor as my guide. He stopped walking after a few minutes, pointing to a door on our left with a flourish of his hand.

"Just through here," he said. "I'll wait out here in case you have any trouble. Alright?"

* * *

It took me at least ten minutes of searching, but I finally found a dress that suited the period and my figure. My final choice was a golden-brown silk gown with three-quarter sleeves and embroidered flowers and large ruffles in the rear. It was impossible to put the corset on without help, so I just decided to wear my bra and a petticoat underneath the dress. I avoided looking in the mirror and just hoped the dress didn't make me look like a fat giraffe. I grabbed a matching pair of golden-brown heels that perfectly matched that of eighteenth century fashion and slipped them on my feet.

I cracked the door open slightly and looked out at the Doctor. "I don't know if it looks good or not," I told him softly. "I don't even know if it's the right time period. But I'm already all shoved inside the damn thing, so..."

The Doctor chuckled and held out a hand to me. "Let me see. I'm sure you look lovely."

I opened the door all the way and looked down at my feet. I could feel his eyes moving over my body, sending my heart into a beating frenzy. Nervously, I crossed my arms across my chest.

"I can change if I need to. I wasn't sure where exactly we were going and I didn't know what to wear, so I just chose this one. I know it's probably not my best look, but-"

"It's perfect," the Doctor told me with a smile. "You look like a noble woman."

"I do?" I asked incredulously.

He folded his arm and offered me his elbow. "May I have the honor of escorting you to lunch, my lady?"

I curtsied and smiled sweetly. "You may, my dear Doctor."

* * *

We were sitting at a fancy restaurant named 'Lupo Cattivo' eating the best spaghetti and meatballs I'd ever eaten. The Doctor sat across the table from me, alternating from poking at his food and looking at me just like I was with him. It felt romantic in a strange way, having a meal with just the Doctor and no one else.

"So what do you think of Italy?"

"It's beautiful, Doctor. I don't think I've ever seen anything so beautiful."

"I have."

I smiled and tilted my head to the side. "Gallifrey?" I asked, confident that I was right.

"You."

A raging blush was the closest thing to answer that I could provide. I looked back at my food at picked at it with my fork. This Doctor was a charmer and a romantic and boy, did I like it.

The only downside to eating alone with him was that I could barely eat at all because I was so self-conscious. I didn't want him to think I had the manners of a pig! So when I ended up with a spatter of sauce across my lips and cheek, I could barely stand to look at him.

But the Doctor was sweet enough not to laugh. Instead, he stood up and gently wiped his napkin across my face. His hands lingered on my lips for a few long moments before he blinked and returned to his seat. We spent the rest of the meal in silence.

Mere seconds after our plates were taken away, screams of panic and terror reached our ears. We glanced at each other, smiled, and kept to our feet. The Doctor reached for my hand and we ran as fast as we could towards the source of the sound.

"Trouble always follows us, doesn't it?" I asked jokingly.

The Doctor nodded. "It's a talent of mine," he replied with a smirk.

He reached into his coat and pulled out his sonic screwdriver. I was ready to face anything with this man. He'd saved my life already and I knew he would do it again if anything ever happened to me. So I held his hand even tighter in mine and we ran towards danger, the Doctor and his companion.

* * *

Fifteen exhausting hours later, the Doctor and I stumbled into the TARDIS with heavy feet. I leaned heavily on his shoulder, my eyes half closed, and he had an arm around my shoulders to support himself. Our clothes were dusty and muddy and we both looked like we'd had the snot beaten out of us.

The TARDIS doors closed softly behind us, courtesy of the ship herself. The Doctor stumbled forward, pointing at his chair and mumbling incoherently. I hurriedly walked him over to it and helped him sit down.

"Doctor, are you alright?" I asked worriedly, suddenly feeling completely awake and alert.

"Fighting against a giant, psychopathic, walking tree was not on my agenda today," he replied with a low, tired voice.

I laughed. "It wasn't on mine either."

The Doctor looked up at me with wild, tired eyes. He reached for my hand with a serious expression. "I'm sorry our date was cut short, Diana. I wanted you to enjoy yourself, see the sights of Italy, and instead we got arrested and nearly trampled."

"It was a date?"

"Of course. What did you think it was?"

"Uh... You being nice to your companion?"

"You're so much more than a companion, Diana."

I blushed and smiled a little. The Doctor held my hand gently and rubbed his thumb against my skin. "What am I, then?"

The Doctor leaned closer to me, ready to respond; I copied his actions. I blinked and found myself in a different TARDIS and a different Doctor. Tears were in my eyes as I looked around the newer TARDIS console. Would I ever see Eight again?


	3. Time Crash

**A/N: We've got both 10 and 5 today. Hope everyone enjoys their first appearance!**

Alarms were blaring all around me and I felt the TARDIS spinning wildly in space. I fell to my hands and knees, metal grating biting my skin. My head was spinning as I stood up and tried to regain my balance.

Walking around the console were two men, one in a pinstripe suit and one in a beige cricket outfit. They were both talking to the TARDIS and stroking her console with worrisome expressions on their faces.

I looked around and realized I was by the TARDIS doors. Unsure of what to do, I started towards the console. Maybe these two Doctors could explain to me why I was meeting them out of order.

Right as I approached Ten, Five bumped into my back and sent me straight into Ten's arms. I squeaked in surprise and embarrassment and looked shyly up at the Time Lord. He smiled and engulfed me in a welcoming hug.

"What?" Five asked.

Ten released me and stared in shock at his younger self. "What?"

"Who are you, what are you doing with Diana, and what have you done with my TARDIS?"

"What?!" Ten and I asked incredulously.

"You've met me before, Doctor?" I asked the younger Doctor.

His face fell; I could see in his eyes a deep pain and sadness I knew came from my question. Five nodded, forcing himself to smile. "Yes I have, my darling. But I see you have not met me."

I shook my head. "No. This is actually my first time meeting either one of you," I explained with an apologetic smile.

Five smiled back, then glanced at Ten. I could see a sense of protectiveness in his gaze when he noticed Ten's hands resting on my upper arms. "Who are you?" he asked his older self.

Ten giggled a little. "Oh, brilliant. I mean, totally wrong. Bit emergency, universe goes bang in five minutes but brilliant!"

"I'm the Doctor. Who are you?"

"Yes you are," Ten replied in a sort of haze. "You are the Doctor."

"Yes, I'm the Doctor."

"Oh, good for you. Good for brilliant old you."

Five stared incredulously at his older self. "Is there something wrong with you?" he asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

I chuckled and shook my head in amusement. "You have no idea," I muttered.

Ten promptly ignored my comment, instead watching his younger self turn into a grumpy Time Lord. "Oh, there it goes. The frowny face. I remember that one. Mind you, bit saggier than I ought to be. Hair's a bit greyer. That's because of me, though. The two of us together has shorted out the time differential. Should all snap back in place when we get you home. Be able to close that coat again. But never mind that. Look at you! The coat, the crickety cricket stuff, the stick of celery. Yeah. Brave choice, celery, but fair play to you. Not a lot of men can carry off a decorative vegetable."

"Shut up!" Five was frowning again and I found it very adorable. "There is something very wrong with my Tardis, and I've got to do something about it very, very quickly, and it would help, it really would, if there wasn't some skinny idiot ranting in my face about every single thing that happens to be in front of him!"

"Oh," Ten replied after a moment of shocked hesitation. "Okay. Sorry... Doctor."

"Thank you." He turned to me in confusion. "Who is he, Diana? Is he another one of my fans?"

"You could say that," I replied. "But don't judge him, okay?"

Five then turned away to fiddle with the TARDIS controls, giving Ten and I a view if a balding patch at the back of his head. Ten made a disapproving noise and rubbed the nape of his neck. "Oh, the back of my head," he mumbled. I snorted and put a hand over my mouth. "Oi, not funny, Di."

"What?" Five asked absently.

"Sorry, sorry. It's not something you see every day, is it, the back of your own head. Mind you, I can see why you wear a hat. I don't want to seem vain, but could you keep that on?"

"Do you mind?" Five snapped with a brief glance in my direction. "And what have you done with my TARDIS? You've changed the desktop theme, haven't you? What's this one, coral?"

"Well-"

"It's worse than the leopard skin," he muttered as he pulled out his half-moon spectacles.

"Oh, and out they come, the brainy specs." Ten smirked. "You don't even need them. You just think they make you look a bit clever."

"Like you're any different," I told the older Doctor with a half-contained smirk.

An alarm suddenly went off, startling all three of us. "That's an alert, level five," Five explained almost frantically, "indicating a temporal collision. It like two TARDISes have merged, but there's definitely only one TARDIS present. It's like two time zones or more at the heart of the TARDIS. That's a paradox that could blow a hole in the space time continuum the size of. Well, actually, the exact size of Belgium. That's a bit undramatic, isn't it? Belgium?"

I stayed by Ten's side while Five talked. I hadn't seen a single episode with Five in it, so I didn't have much of a connection to him. But he was still the Doctor and he still knew me somehow.

The older Doctor offered the younger Doctor his sonic screwdriver. "Need this?"

"No, I'm fine."

"Oh no, of course, you liked to go hands free, didn't you. Like hey, I'm the Doctor. I can save the universe using a kettle and some string. And look at me, I'm wearing a vegetable."

"Who are you?!" Five demanded.

"Take a look."

"Oh." Five's eyes widened in shock. "Oh, no."

"Oh yes."

"You're-... Oh, no."

"Here it comes. Yeah, I am."

"A fan"

"Yeah- What?"

I burst out laughing at the look on Ten's face. He looked so disappointed.

"This is bad," Five said, completely ignoring his other self. "Two minutes to Belgium."

"What do you mean, a fan? I'm not just a fan, I'm you."

"Okay, you're my biggest fan. Look, it's perfectly understandable. I go zooming around space and time, saving planets, fighting monsters and being well, let's be honest, pretty sort of marvelous, so naturally now and then people notice me. Start up their little groups. That LINDA lot. Are you one of them? How did you get in here? Can't have you lot knowing where I live."

"Listen to me. I'm you, I'm you! I'm you with a new face. Check out this bone structure, Doctor, because one day you're going to be shaving it." Then Ten turned to me with wide eyes. "Diana, tell him who I am!"

"He's the Doctor," I stated.

"No, Diana. I'm the Doctor. You know that," Five protested.

"Really, Doctor, he's the Doctor. Er... Five? This man," I said in reference to his older self, "is the Doctor. He's you, the tenth you. I swear."

A loud bell suddenly went off and the TARDIS shook a little bit. "The cloister bell!" he shouted.

Both Doctors started flipping control levers and switches on the console in a frenzy. I stepped back to stay out of the way of both men since I had absolutely no idea what to do.

"In a minute we're going to create a black hole strong enough to swallow the entire universe!"

Ten looked slightly modest, for once. "Yeah, that's my fault, actually. I was rebuilding the TARDIS, forgot to put the shields back up. Your TARDIS and my TARDIS, well the same TARDIS at different points in its own timestream collided and whoo, there you go, end of the universe, butterfingers. But don't worry, I know exactly how this all works out. Watch. Venting the thermobuffer, drawing the Helmic regulator, and just to finish off, let's fry those Zeiton crystals."

"You'll blow up the TARDIS!" Five insisted.

"No I won't. I haven't."

"Who told you that?'

"You old me that."

The next second, there was a massive whiteout. Five looked impressed as he realized what Ten had done. "Supernova and black hole at the exact same instant."

"What does that do?" I asked.

"The explosion cancels out the implosion," Ten explained.

"Pressure remains constant," Five added.

"Ah..." I smiled and came to stand between both Doctors. "This is why I do singing instead of science."

"It's brilliant."

"Far too brilliant," Five said. "I've never met anyone else who could fly the TARDIS like that, not even Diana."

"Wait, what? Since when can I fly the TARDIS?"

"Since a long time ago for us," Ten replied.

Five looked at Ten in amazement an confusion. "You didn't have time to work all that out. Even I couldn't do it."

"I didn't work it out. I didn't have to."

"You remembered."

"Because you will remember."

"You remembered being me watching you doing that. You already knew what to do because I saw you do it."

"Wibbly-wobbley-"

"Timey-whimey!" we all said in sync.

"Right, Tardises are separating," Ten informed us. "Sorry, Doctor, time's up. Back to long ago. Where are you now? Nyssa and Tegan? Cybermen and Mara and Time Lords in funny hats and the Master? Oh, he just showed up again, same as ever."

"Oh no, really? Does he still have that rubbish beard?"

"No, no beard this time. Well, a wife."

"Oh, I seem to be off. What can I say? Thank you, Doctor."

"Thank you."

"I'm very welcome," Five replied with a smile. "Diana, I-"

Five suddenly vanished, his body slowly fading away. I stared at the space where he once was and wondered when I would see him again. Ten flipped a few switches and levers, then approached me and handed me his younger self's hat and smiled. When Five reappeared, I have him his hat.

"Here you go, Doctor," I said softly. "I'm looking forward to meeting you."

"It's quite the adventure."

"Spoilers, Doctor,' I told him with a smile.

Ten rested a hand on my shoulder. "You know," he told himself, "I love being you. Back when I first started at the very beginning, I was always trying to be old and grumpy and important, like you do when you're young. And then I was you, and it was all dashing about and playing cricket and my voice going all squeaky when I shouted. I still do that, the voice thing. I got that from you. Oh, and the trainers, and-" he put his glasses on "-snap. Because you know what, Doctor? You were my Doctor."

I smiled gleefully because I knew that the actor who played Ten actually adored Five in real life and that Five really was his Doctor. "To days to come," he said with a nod to Ten's arm now around my shoulder.

"All my love to long ago," the older Doctor responded.

And then Five faded away for good, his voice echoing: "Oh, Doctor, remember to put your shields up. And Diana, stay safe, my darling."

I smiled at the spot where he had just been seconds ago. "I will-."

The sound of the TARDIS materializing interrupted me. Looking around, I saw Ten and his TARDIS fading away. He looked at me with a sad, longing gaze, completely ignoring the sound of a ship's foghorn echoing outside his time machine.

"Doctor?"

"I'll see you soon, Diana. Be safe."

And in an instant he was gone. In his place stood a tall man wearing a burgundy coat, a multi-colored wool scarf, and a floppy brown hat. It was him, my Doctor, changed again. He said my name with a smile and I said his. Then the younger, white interior of the TARDIS spun around me and I passed out.


	4. The Ark in Space: Part 1-2

**A/N: I love 4 very, very much, so I'm super excited to be writing my first chapter featuring him. Please try to enjoy! :) **

**Also, this chapter is a bit long...**

I opened my eyes and saw white. White walls, white ceiling; everything was white. I sat up slowly, unsure of where I was or how long I'd been asleep. I noticed I was on a white bed with white sheets and that next to me was the Doctor, fast asleep in a silver chair.

His hat was loosely caught between his hands, which rested on his lap, and his head had fallen back to show his neck wrapped up with his scarf. I smiled when I saw that his mouth was open slightly. He looked like a teddy bear with an afro when he was asleep.

Trying not to wake him, I slowly brought my legs over the side of the bed and stood on them. I took two steps forward and tripped over the Doctor's scarf. I fell hard and landed on my side, the impact knocking the air from my lungs.

The Doctor jerked awake with wide eyes and arms frozen in an attack position. Then he saw me in a heap at his feet and smiled. He slid off the chair and knelt beside me, helping me back to my feet. "Are you alright?" he asked softly.

"Yeah. Fine. Brilliant. Fantastic."

The Doctor had a strong, supporting grip on my biceps and I had a shaky grip on his coat lapels. I briefly considered the thought that I had a thing for holding the aliens' coat lapels, but dismissed it as silliness.

"Can you stand?"

I nodded. "Uh huh. I just... tripped."

"On what, air?"

I blushed. "No. Your scarf, Mister Doctor. It's a bit long, in case you hadn't noticed."

"I thought you liked it!" he replied in hurt confusion.

"I do! I love it."

The Doctor smirked, his chest puffing out at my remark. He cleared his throat and tilted his chin up. "Yes, it is rather dashing, isn't it?"

"Very dashing," I agreed. "Very hot."

" 'Hot'?"

I felt my fading blush return with vigor. "Uh, I mean... It's a scarf, it's hot. It's gonna make your neck... hot..." That was not at all what I had meant, but I wasn't about to tell him that. He'd think I was obsessed with him and I couldn't have him knowing the truth.

"I see." The Doctor released my arms an stepped back. He smiled politely and shoved his hands in his coat pockets. "Care for an adventure, my dear?"

"With you? How could I resist?" I glanced down at my dress from my adventure with Eight and laughed a little. "Could I change first?"

"Certainly."

I looped my arm around his elbow and grinned. An adventure with Four was one thing that could make my life complete.

* * *

I had changed back into my favorite pair of jeans and my favorite blue tshirt that had somehow remained in the TARDIS wardrobe, despite my moving through her timeline. The Doctor was polite enough not to comment on my strange attire, only nodding in approval when I came out of the wardrobe in my twenty-first century clothes.

Sarah Jane and Harry Sullivan were waiting for us in the TARDIS console room when we enterd. As soon as Sarah saw us, her face lit up and she rushed towards us. The Doctor pulled his arm away from mine and chuckled when Sarah threw her arms around me in a tight hug.

"Oh, Diana, I'm so glad to see you! You just disappeared again and we weren't sure where you'd gone!"

"Well, uh... Here I am," I replied in confusion.

Sarah pulled back and smiled up at me. I smiled in return, a sadness washing over me as I remembered that Elizabeth Sladen was dead. But I tried to keep it from showing. So I just pulled Sarah Jane back into another hug and sighed. She laughed and patted my back.

"You alright?" she asked in my ear.

I nodded. We pulled away again and smiled widely at one another. "Just thinking." I looked around her at Harry and waved. "Hey, Harry. Nice to see you."

He blinked at me, seemingly in a state of extreme confusion. "Uh, yes. Hullo."

The Doctor chuckled and put a hand on my back, right between my shoulder blades. I looked over my back at him. "Now that the princess is awake," he began, "I say that we go on a quick trip. Harry here doesn't believe that the TARDIS can go anywhere."

"Of course it can't," Harry responded. "It's a police box, Doctor. It doesn't make any logical sense-"

"Not to you, it doesn't. But to every other intelligent being in this 'police box', it does." I snickered. The Doctor stepped away and stood by the console. "We're going to go to the moon."

"The moon?" Harry asked incredulously. "But that's impossible!"

"It's very possible, Harry Sullivan," I told the young man. "The Doctor can do anything with his TARDIS. Trust me."

Harry muttered something to himself and stepped forward, stopping at the Doctor's side. He looked slowly over the TARDIS console in amazement as the Time Lord started turning knobs and pressing buttons. We were all silent while the Doctor concentrated on flying. Then Harry leaned forward and punched a relatively large button.

"What's this one do, Doctor?"

"What- No! No, no, no! Don't touch anything, Harry Sullivan! Move back!"

The TARDIS suddenly tilted to one side, throwing me against Sarah Jane and causing us to topple over. Harry fell on his rear and let out a noise of shock while the Doctor held tight to the console and kept himself upright. I scrambled back to my feet and grabbed onto the Doctor's coat arm. As I started to ask him a question, the TARDIS shifted again and I fell against the Doctor's back. He let out an "oof" and fell forwards against the console with me on top of him. I apologized and stepped away from him, tripping when the TARDIS made another jerky movement.

The TARDIS finally landed and all three of us managed to stand up. The Doctor merely turned on his heel and went into another room. Various thuds and crashes were heard until the Time Lord finally re-entered the console room with two flashlights and two oil lamps. He handed Harry and Sarah the oil lamps and gave me a flashlight. Then he stomped towards the TARDIS doors and opened them.

"I say, I'm very sorry, Doctor," Harry said quietly.

I silently followed the Doctor outside, switching my flashlight on and moving it around me.

"You're a clumsy, ham fisted idiot, Harry Sullivan!" the Doctor snapped as he looked around our surroundings.

"Well I said I was sorry, didn't I?" Harry responded from inside the TARDIS.

"What? Come out!" There was a thud behind me and I saw Harry stumble out of the Doctor's time machine. "And don't touch anything."

"I'm only trying to open the door." Then I heard a gasp. I looked back at the human doctor and smiled. "I say, we've gone!"

"Whose gone?" Sarah asked as she stepped out and stood next to Harry.

"I mean, this isn't. We aren't where we were when. I've gone mad."

"That's how I felt the first time." Sarah stepped forward and looked at the Doctor. "Where are we, Doctor?"

"I've no idea," he replied.

"A quick trip to the moon, you said, just to prove to Harry."

"I didn't expect him to start messing about with the helmic regulator. Come away from there, Harry."

Harry stepped away from the TARDIS and looked at it in wonder. "You could sell that thing, Doctor," he said.

"I could what?!"

"Jolly useful in Trafalgar Square. I mean, hundreds of bobbies hiding inside it."

Sarah looked at me and sighed. "Harry?"

"Eh?"

"Stop burbling."

"What? Oh, sorry. Shock, I suppose. I must say, I feel very strange."

"Not much oxygen," the Doctor muttered casually. "Still, nothing to worry about."

"Not much oxygen isn't something we should worry about?" I asked him. "I actually quite like breathing, thank you very much."

"We'll suffocate without air, Doctor," Sarah added.

"We can survive for quite a while yet," the Doctor replied as he pulled a yo-yo out of his coat pocket.

"While you play with that yo-yo?" Sarah asked.

"Just a simply gravity reading, Sarah. Yes, almost certainly we're in some kind of artificial satellite. Now isn't that interesting?"

"Not really," Sarah responded blankly.

I took the yo-yo from him and placed the string around my finger. "_I'll_ play with the yo-yo, Doctor. _You_ figure out the problem."

The Doctor "humph"ed, bumping my shoulder and causing me to mess up. Then he walked around me and started inspecting the different buttons and switches on the walls around us. Sarah watched him with an exasperated expression.

"It's dark, it's cold and it's getting very airless, Doctor."

"All we have to do is get the power back on, Sarah. Let's see what's over here."

I gave up on playing with the yo-yo and trailed after the Doctor. Behind me, Sarah and Harry were talking. "Might as well go for a look round, I suppose. Are you coming?" she asked the human doctor.

"We'd better stick with the Doctor, don't you think?"

Sarah shrugged and stepped past Harry, looking around the walls in curiosity. after fiddling with some switches, the Doctor managed to turn the power on the satellite-spaceship-thing. He grinned proudly and turned back to face me. "Yes! That's better!" He gestured to the room while looking at me. "Incredible, don't you think?"

I laughed and nodded. "Yeah."

"I say," Harry began in awe, "what's all that for?"

"I've never seen anything quite like it," the Doctor said in reply.

"Doctor, look!" Sarah called.

I turned to see Sarah exit into an adjoining room in panic. I rushed towards her and followed her into the room. "Sarah, wait! Don't go in there."

"Why not?" she asked. "Doctor, come see!"

"In a minute, Sarah," he replied.

The door slid closed behind us, making me jump. I banged my hands against the closed door in a frenzy. Sarah looked back at me in confusion. "Diana, what-?"

"We're s-stuck!"

I stopped hitting the door and slumped against it instead, my breath coming short. Sarah and I realized that the shortage of oxygen wasn't just in the main room. She stumbled over to me and leaned heavily against the door like me. She weakly hit the door, calling the Doctor's name. I copied her actions and closed my eyes as the oxygen started to thin.

I hit the door one last time, whispering the Doctor's name, then fell to the floor.

* * *

I woke up to see the Doctor leaning over me, concern written all over his face. His eyes were wide and searching as they roamed across my face and his brows were drawn together. My mouth opened to talk, but I ended up coughing instead. "Easy, Diana," he said softly, resting a hand on my cheek. "You passed out from oxygen deficiency. You probably shouldn't talk or sit up at first."

I smiled and reached up to grab his scarf. "I told you so," I croaked.

"Are you alright otherwise?"

I nodded. "Little disoriented... Dizzy..."

"You just need a few minutes and a drink of water."

"Sorry," I mumbled.

"For what?"

"Wandering off."

"Just don't get hurt," he scolded me with a tap on the tip of my nose. "Awfully stupid of you."

"Gee, thanks."

The Doctor shook his head, trying to hide his smile. He moved his hand away from my face and stood up. I realized that I was on the ground, leaning against the wall next to the bed Sarah was laying on. I momentarily felt that the Doctor cared more about Sarah than me, then realized that I was probably right.

"Am I not special enough to get a bed, Doctor?" I asked, hurt seeping into my voice.

"Of course you are!"

"Then why am I on the floor?"

"Ah..." He awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "Well... Harry went to Sarah first while I brought the oxygen level to normal. So... You can blame him. I was trying to save your life."

"For which I thank you, Doctor."

He smiled fondly at me and nodded. "I'll be back with some water for you. Don't wander off."

"I'll try not to," I muttered sarcastically.

My eyes slid closed and I felt my head turn to the side. I was asleep within seconds.

-page break-

A hand shaking my shoulder woke me. I saw the Doctor's eyes staring down into mine; they were wide and worried.

"Sarah's gone. The bed transported her somewhere else on the station. Do you know where she could be?"

I blinked. "Uh... Maybe. I don't know how to get there, though."

He sighed. "Alright. Can you stand?"

"Yeah."

He gripped my hands and pulled me to my feet, moving his arms around my waist when my knees wobbled and I lurched forward against his chest. I felt my heart pounding hard against my breastbone at his touch. As I looked up at him, I felt like swooning. I'd always had an insanely large crush on this Doctor and having his hands on my waist was not helping.

"Sorry," I breathed.

"Perfectly fine, Princess."

I blushed and ducked my head shyly. His fingers curled against my hips, then straightened. His hands slid up my waist for a moment before he looked startled and pulled back. I noticed that his cheeks looked slightly pink and smiled.

"Come on. Lets go find Sarah.

* * *

"I think we'll try this way first," the Doctor told Harry and I. "That sound about right, Diana?"

I nodded. "I think so."

We headed counterclockwise around the room with the Doctor in the lead (of course), me directly behind him with a firm grip on his scarf, and Harry following close behind me. I remembered this episode relatively well, but some of the details were lost to me. So I helped guide the Doctor as best as my memory would allow, which was surprisingly good.

Harry pointed to a door with a tug on my shirt. "I say, what about the armory?"

"Not very likely," the Time Lord replied dryly.

The walkway finished at a door marked Area Q. The Doctor was about to ask me a question Jen a voice sounded, "This is a sterile area! Keep out!"

"It's just like a hospital," Harry noted.

I nodded and stayed close to the Doctor as he opened the door, all three of us watching as it slid up into the ceiling.

"Well, ought we, do you think?"

The Doctor glanced at Harry and rolled his eyes. "Don't be nervous, Harry," he said sarcastically.

Suddenly Harry jerked with a slight gasp, his shoulder bumping mine. Both me and the Doctor turned and looked curiously at him.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I saw something moving."

The Doctor scoffed. "Nonsense, Harry."

"I'm positive. I saw something move."

"A trick of the light."

The door slid closed behind us with a hiss, making me jump. I grabbed at the Doctor's elbow and held onto it very tightly.

"It wasn't a trick of the light," Harry replied. "I saw something moving."

There was a green trail on the metal grating immediately in front of the Doctor's feet. He gazed at it in confusion and curiosity. "It's like the trail left by a gastropod mollusc," the Doctor commented.

"A slug?" Harry asked.

"Or a snail."

"That size?!" The human doctor asked incredulously. "Impossible. It couldn't have got through this grille."

"Very interesting. A multinucleate organism?"

"Eh?"

I touched Harry's shoulder with a smile. "I don't understand half of what he says either. Don't worry."

"Let's find Sarah first, Harry, Diana. Come on."

We moved on to the intersection in front of us. "This looks promising," the Doctor told us with a slight smile.

We walked past a notice saying "Yellow Badge Personnel Only", the Doctor not paying the notice any attention at all. The room was small and had a yellow-ish tint to the walls. I recognized it from the episode and felt relieved that I could remember something. I tugged at the Doctor's sleeve to get his attention.

"She was in here earlier, Doctor, but she was... moved. Sort of."

The wall opposite the empty chamber where I knew Sarah had been earlier had sixteen blocks with numbers on them and had captured the Doctor's attention. He reached up to touch the blocks. "I think we're getting warm, Harry, Diana. Animal and Botanic."

The Doctor looked through a window on the door with the exact words of his last sentence. "Of course! That explains everything. Do you realise what this is? Aren't you feeling better, Harry?"

"No, I'm not."

"Then pull yourself together, man. This is fascinating! This is a cryogenic repository!"

I immediately thought of Khan from Star Trek and grinned. At least I finally knew something that the Doctor did, albeit only because I watched Star Trek.

"Repository?" Harry questioned. "For what?"

"Everything. Well, everything they considered worth preserving. Look at this." He pressed a button next to the numbered blocks and one of the blocks slid out. "Microfilm. It's a complete record. Music, history, architecture, literature, engineering. Incredible. The entire body of human thought and achievement."

"That's incredile," I muttered in awe. "All that knowledge, right here at my fingertips. It's amazing."

The Doctor smiled at me, a sort of proud look on his face. "It is incredible, Diana."

"Yes," Harry protested in confusion, "but what's it all for?"

The Doctor stuck out his lower lip as he considered Harry's question. "Posterity? I don't know. Why build all this and send it into space?"

"I say, couldn't be some sort of survival kit, could it?"

"Survival?"

"Yes, you know, the sort of thing they shove in lifeboats and things."

The Doctor grinned. "You're improving, Harry.

"Am I really?"

"Yes, your mind is beginning to work. It's entirely due my influence, of course. You mustn't take any credit."

I burst out in laughter. "Doctor," I said between laughs, "you are so full of yourself."

"But you love it," he replied with a smirk.

"Yeah, I do. You arrogant prat."

He playfully wrapped an arm around my shoulder and squeezed my arm. "Would you have me any different?" He didn't wait for my answer, probably because he already knew it. "Now, what's missing?"

"Missing?"

"Yes." The Doctor pulled away from me and looked at Harry as he explained. "If we are to assume that some great cataclysm struck Earth, and that before the end they launched this lifeboat, then the one obvious missing element is man himself. What's happened to the human species, Harry?"

A door slid open behind us, reminding me that we still had to save Sarah. We walked over and looked through the doorway, Harry resting a hand on my shoulder as he stood behind me like I did with the Doctor. "I say, what a place for a mortuary," Harry commented.

"We'll aren't you a little ray of sunshine?" I asked dryly.

"This isn't a mortuary, Harry," the Doctor told him. "Quite the reverse."

"Reverse? I'd hardly call it a nursery."

"Cryogenic chamber."

"What?"

"It's like a way to preserve humans for. really long time without them dying," I explained.

"Exactly," the Doctor replied. "Its an old principle, but I've never seen it applied on this scale. Look at them."

A short corridor close by and lined with four pods lead into another chamber with even more pods filled with sleeping humans.

"There must be hundreds here."

"Well, when you've seen one corpse, you've seen them all."

I sighed. "Harry," I started, "they aren't dead. They're asleep."

"The entire human race awaiting the trumpet blast," the Doctor continued.

Harry opened a pod and observed the sleeping human. "Dead as a doorknocker."

"Homo sapiens," the Doctor said in wonder. "What an inventive, invincible species. It's only a few million years since they've crawled up out of the mud and learned to walk. Puny, defenseless bipeds. They've survived flood, famine and plague. They've survived cosmic wars and holocausts, and now here they are amongst the stars, waiting to begin a new life, ready to outsit eternity. They're indomitable. Indomitable!"

" 'Puny and defenseless'?" I repeated with a not very well contained smile. "Should I be offended, Doctor?"

He smirked. "You're not puny or defenseless, so no."

"And you call me 'Princess' because I'm not defenseless?" "I call you 'Princess' because I can," he countered playfully.

"What do you think you're doing, Harry?" the Doctor asked.

I turned and saw Harry looking into the eye of a sleeper. "Sorry to contradict you, Doctor. Not a flicker of life."

"Suspended animation," the Doctor countered.

"There are no metabolic functions at all. I mean, look at him. Now, even in the deepest coma, the hair and fingernails continue to grow. The epidermis-"

"Total suspension, Harry." The Doctor closed the pod and looked pointedly at the human. "You can't survive ten thousand years in a coma."

"Ten thousand years?" Harry and I asked incredulously.

"Fifty thousand years, a hundred thousand. Time is immaterial. It's an amazing sight, isn't it? The entire human race in one room. All colours, all creeds. All differences finally forgotten."

Harry was wide-eyed and surprised. "Doctor, are you serious? The entire human race?"

"Well, it's chosen descendents. The operation must have been meticulously planned. Come on."

"Where are we going?" I asked

"First to find Sarah, then we're going to shut down the systems. We're intruders here, you know."

"Wait, what?" I was terribly confused, which made me feel completely stupid and useless. I couldn't, for the life of me, remember why we had to shut down the systems.

"Now just a minute, Doctor," Harry interjected. "Are you trying to tell that this is where it's all going to end? In here?"

"Not end, Harry, just a pause."

"But there's only a few hundred corpses- er, bodies in here. I mean, what's happened to the rest of humanity? Some global catastrophe?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yes, and they saw it coming, and made provision for it as best they could. Don't forget, it's something for you to be proud of."

"Doctor!"

"Yes?"

Harry pointed at a trail of green slime leading out of an air vent close to the floor. "Look."

The Doctor pondered the trail of slime for a moment. "Hm. Oxygen? Radiant heat? But this deep in space? I wonder..."

"Perhaps it's some kind of mold."

"Mold?" the Doctor repeated.

"And that trail we saw in the corridor."

"And that thing you saw moving in the corridor," I added.

"Dust," Harry suggested. "That, er, grille thing was a dust extractor. And then we opened the door after umpteen years and caused a bit of a draught."

"Hmm. Very convincing. All the same, I think we'll just check a few of the beds while we're here."

"What are we checking for, exactly?" Harry asked.

"Just to make sure that everything's in order."

"Right-o."

I started opening pods in search for Sarah, quickly opening and closing the pods when I didn't find the journalist. Harry found her whilst doing his own checking of the pods. He called for the Doctor and waved us over.

"What have you found?" the Doctor questioned as he wlaked casually to the human doctor's side. "Sarah! Oh, Sarah Jane."

"We can't help her now."

"Doctor-" I tried.

"No," the Time lord replied grimly. "She'll be like that for three thousand years at least. Even if we had a resuscitation unit, it's doubtful that we could revive her now."

"Doctor," I tried again. "We-"

"There must be something we can do. What's would a resuscitation unit look like?"

"Very like an oxygen cylinder."

"Doctor, would you please listen to me?"

"You'll recognise it if there is one."

Harry let out a cry of disgust and scrambled backwards. He straightened his coat and then knelt next to the large, dead bug that had fallen out of the cupboard he'd opened. "Well, it's dead, anyway," he noted.

The Doctor and I went to Harry's side to investigate the strange creature. "Very dead. Almost mummified," the Doctor commented.

"What is it?"

"That's something we can leave till later. No sign of the resuscitation tank?"

"Well, I hardly had a chance to look for one."

The Doctor toke an orange box from the cupboard and handed it to Harry. "Emergency medical kit, wouldn't you say?"

"A bit beyond me, I'm afraid."

"There must be something there that would help Sarah, but what? What?"

"Doctor, if you could shut your trap and just listen to me-"

"Later, Diana."

"Doctor, look!" Harry pointed across the room to one of the pods that had become active.

"Of course! They don't need a tank. The resuscitation phase is programmed in." The Doctor rushed over to the pod and opened the lid to reveal a woman. Her eyes were closed and she wore a white uniform with yellow on her shoulders. "Look, she's starting to breathe."

Harry trailed after him and nodded. "Yes, I think she is."

"No doubt about it."

"That means there's hope for Sarah. Yes, look, she's moving."

I hit my forehead with the palm of my hand and sighed. "Doctor, if you would just listen to me. I'm trying to tell you something important."

"Are you, now?"

"Yes! Sarah can be saved, you nitwit! Just wait for this woman to wake up and she can help us."

"Why didn't you say something before?"

"I did say something. You kept ignoring me."

"Well, why ever would I do that?"

"I don't know!"

The Doctor just grinned, winking at me and turning back towards Harry and the woman. I felt a rush of heat in my face and clamped my hands over my face so the Doctor wouldn't see. But I suspected he knew I was blushing.

"Independant sort of bird, isn't she?" Harry said with a sort of smile.

"Leave her, Harry."

"Yes, but she's-"

"There's nothing you can do. She knows what she's doing."

The woman slumped, then straighteneds up and steped down from the pod; it switched off. She looked around the room and started when she saw us. "Oh! Explain yourselves," she demanded.

"Well, there isn't very much to explain. We're just travellers in space like yourself," the Dcotr told her.

"That is not adequate."

"My name's Sullivan," Harry supplied with an inviting smile. "Surgeon Lieutenant Harry Sullivan, actually. This is Diana and this is the Doctor."

"You claim to be med-techs?" the woman asked.

Harry blinked. "Sorry?"

The Doctor stepped forward and explained. "My doctorate is purely honorary, and Harry here is only qualified to work on sailors. And Diana... Well, she's just brilliant."

I grinned and found myself standing a little taller at his compliment. He glanced over at me and gave me another wink when he saw me holding my head high. My blush returned and he just grinned. Damn flirt, I thought.

"My name is Vira," the woman said with a professional aura. "I am a first med-tech."

The Doctor looked very relieved when the woman said that. He clapped his hands together and smiled politely at her. "Well, I'm delighted to hear it. You see, we happen to be in rather desperate need of medical help." He wheeled a box over to Sarah's pod and glanced at Vira hopefully.

"This female is a stranger," Vira said.

"She's a friend of ours," Harry reassured the woman. "She got caught in the machinery."

"She was not among the chosen."

"Well, she's among the chosen now, isn't she?" I snickered; sassy Harry Sullivan was hilarious.

The Doctor sighed. "Is there any way of reversing the cryogenic process?"

"That can be dangerous. How long since she underwent tissue irradiation?"

Harry looked from to teh Doctor as he thought. "Can't be more than an hour, can it, Doctor? We haven't been here more than an hour altogether."

Vira put a circlet on Sarah's head and toke a reading.

"Is there anything you cand do for her?" Harry asked.

"Is she valuable?" Vira asked.

Harry was upset at Vira's comment , and so was I. Sarah Jane was terribly important and I hated hearing anyone say different. "Of value?" Harry snapped. "She's a human being like ourselves! What sort of question's that?"

The Doctor looked at Vira. "The answer is yes."

Vira glanced at Harry, then the Doctor. "Your comrade is a romantic."

"Perhaps we both are," he said with a quick look in my direction.

"I will inject a monod block."

Harry was relieved and smiled ever-so-slightly. "Ah, that'll do the trick, eh?"

"Your colony speech has no meaning."

"I mean it'll bring her round, reverse the process."

Vira injected Sarah's arm. "She will either survive or die. The action of the antiprotonic is not predictable."

"I see," the Doctor said. "You've changed her body into a battlefield."

"Battlefield?" Vira asked, somewhat confused. "I hypoid in classicals, but you dawn-timers have a language all of your own."

The Doctor smiled. "We do seem to have a small communications problem."

"I wish there was something I could do," Harry said softly as he stared up at Sarah's sleeping form. I found his concern for her incredibly sweet and touching and I couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy that nobody cared as much about me as Harry and the Doctor cared about Sarah.

"It is done," Vira told us. "There is nothing further. As she revives, her electrical field will draw power from the bionosphere." Vira took her trolley to another flashing pod across the room. She opened it to reveal a man with red fabric on the shoulders of his white uniform. "Here is our prime unit."

"Prime unit?" Harry questioned.

"Er, our leader, I think you would say. Noah."

"Noah? Oh, I see." Harry smiled and nodded, proud of himself for figuring out the little trick. "As in Noah's Ark, eh?"

"It is a name from mythology. His real name is Lazar, but we called him Noah as an amusement."

"Er, joke?"

Vira looked confused with Harry's wording for a moment. Then her face lit up in understanding. "Joke? Oh, yes. There was not much joke in the last days."

"What happened in the last days, Vira?" the Doctor asked her gently.

"Your colony has no records, no history? Where are you from?"

"London, actually," Harry said. "England. The Earth."

"That is not possible. The Earth is dead."

"I'm afraid you're probably wrong about that," the Doctor replied with an almost smile. He did love being right.

"The solar flares destroyed all life on Earth," Vira insisted.

"Ah. Solar flares. I see."

"Our scientists calculated it would be five thousand years before the biosphere became viable again."

"Oh, the absolute minimum, I'd say. But I'm afraid I've something of a shock for you, Vira."

"Shock?"

"You've overslept by several thousand years. You see, when we came here, we found a massive systems failure."

"The systems have no capacity for failure," Vira replied.

"Possibly not," the Doctor said ina greement. "But a long time ago, when you were dormant, you had a visitor. Come, I'll show it to you."

We all walked over to the dead insect-thing on the floor, observing it. I found it to be ugly and disgusting and very unpleasant to look at. But I had decided to go wherever the Doctor went, and if he decided to investigate the ugly bug then I would have to follow. Besides, his good looks made up for the large insect.

"Is it from space?" Vira questioned. "How did it get here?"

"I don't know yet. But observe the size of the brain pan. It had a purpose in coming here, and once inside, it severed most of the satellite's control systems, including your alarm clock, so to speak."

"What purpose?"

* * *

Harry was checking on Sarah with a gentleness I found admirable, considering our current situation. And I was proud of Harry for managing to hold it all together on his first trip with the Doctor. I had continued to stay at the Doctor's side, following him about the room since there was nothing else to do and I didn't want to leave him anyways. Vira, meanwhile, was chceking the other pods with dedication and seriousness.

"Still no change, Doctor," Harry declared sadly.

"No... For once in my life I feel surplus to requirements." Vira then called for the Doctor, somewhat worriedly. "What is it?"

"There's a technical fault in the bionosphere," she told him.

the fault's at this end. It's in the main power supply. "

"It must be corrected. If his heart stops now," she said in reference to Noah, "there's nothing I can do."

The Doctor nodded in understanding. "Don't worry. I noticed the Ark has a secondary power supply. Harry, you stay here and keep an eye on things."

"Right-o," Harry replied.

"Diana-"

"Oh, no. You are not getting rid of me so easily."

"It's safer for you if you stay here. Vira and Harry can protect you."

I crossed my arms across my stomach and raised an eyebrow, popping my right hip out as I stared at the Time Lord. "Well, I'd rather go with you."

"Why?"

"Because I want to."

He grinned and reached forward to grab my hand. "Come on, then!"

* * *

We ran back to the room we had originally started in. The Doctor dragged me around the room with him, flipping switches and pushing buttons like he was back home on the TARDIS. He called Harry's name as he did so while I just stood back and watched.

"Doctor?" Harry asked. "Doctor, where are you?"

"In the control room. Have you got the power back on in there?"

"Yes, we have. Everything's ship-shape now."

"Splendid," the Doctor replied, looking at me with the barest hint of a smile. "The fault seems to be in the main solar stack. I'm just going to take a look."

"Right-o." Harry spoke again after a few moments, but the Doctor was hardly listening. "I say, Doctor, don't be long, will you?"

The Doctor grabbed my hand again and I looked up into his eyes, his six-foot-three frame towering over me. We smiled at one another; he squeezed my hand and I squeezed his and it felt perfect. But when we turned around, Noah was there with a modernized gun pointed at us.

The Doctor just smiled at him, although he pushed me slightly behind him as though to protect me. "Ah, there you are. Awake at last."

"Move away," Noah ordered.

A frown appeared on the Doctor's face. He stepped back a little and gestured to the control panel behind him. "I'm just shutting down the power in the main stack."

"Touch that switch and I'll atomise her." My eyes widened and I stepped back in fright, reaching wildly for the Doctor's hand as I kept my eyes trained on Noah. I felt his fingers intertwine with mine and I felt safe again. The Doctor moved to stand in front of me again, his tall frame hiding me and protecting me. "Earth is ours," Noah declared.

"My dear man," the Doctor pleaded, "if you think for one moment we're laying claim to Earth, you couldn't be more mistaken. We're here to help you."

"By deactivating the main solar stack?"

"Precisely! There's something trapped in the stack, Noah, but at the rate its absorbing energy it won't be trapped for long. The stack must be shut down. Well, if you'd been down there with me, Noah, you-"

Noah shot the Time Lord mid-sentence. The Doctor fell backwards and I did my best to catch him so he wouldn't hurt himself. I only ended up trapped beneath him, making me an easy shot for Noah. He shot me and I passed out, the third time that day.

**Voila! Chapter 4 is completed! Took me forever, but I'm just glad I finished it! (No hate on my bad writing, please?)**


	5. The Ark in Space: Part 3-4

**A/N: Here we are again. I love me some 4th Doctor! XD**

**Even though it's probably really obvious, I want you guys to know how hard it is for me to write good character development and not make Di and the Doc fall in love instantly. It may seem like they already are, but remember that this is 4 and we haven't even met 3 or 1 yet... Just throwing that out there...**

I was jerked awake by someone roughly shaking my shoulder. I was unsurprised to see the Doctor looking at me when I opened my eyes. Smiling, I yawned a little bit and tried to sit up. "Why do I always wake up with you looming over me?" I asked him.

"I haven't a clue," he replied with his own smile.

"It's becoming a habit, Doctor."

"Would you like me to stop?"

"Not at all."

He smirked and helped me to my feet, one arm around my waist and the other reaching out to catch me in case I fell. I muttered my thanks and leaned against him as I blinked a few times and yawned again. I then noticed that Sarah Jane and Harry were watching us, so I scooted away from the Doctor and shook my head to try and hide my blush.

"You alright, Diana?" Sarah asked sweetly.

I nodded. "Mmm hmm. Just peachy. Nothing like being squished to death by a Time Lord after being shot."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "I was not squishing you. Besides, you were quite comfy. Even if I had been awake, I wouldn't have moved."

I snorted and patted my stomach with a grin. "I knew all this fat would come in handy some day," I replied.

The Doctor and Sarah immediately scolded me and told me that I was exactly the opposite. I smiled, glad to hear that they thought so, but thought nothing of it. With a shrug, I took the Doctor's hand in mine and held my head tall. "We've got to go find Noah, right?" I asked the other three; they all nodded. "Alright-y then. Let's go get 'im!"

* * *

"Strange how they've given us the run of the ship," Harry commented. "Why doesn't Vira try and stop us?"

"Not her function, Harry," the Doctor explained.

"How do you mean?"

"By the thirtieth century, human society was highly compartmentalised. Vira is a med-tech, and I suspect we're an executive problem."

Just then Noah stepped out in front of us, his left hand shoved in his pocket. "Right, Doctor. But not a difficult one. You can easily be eliminated."

"Unlike the thing you saw in the solar stack, eh, Noah?" the Doctor countered.

Noah narrowed his eyes at us. "I saw a pathetic attempt at sabotage. The observation port is damaged."

"Then it's escaped." The Doctor looked extremely disappointed and I understood why. I put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him and sighed. "We're too late."

"What's escaped?" Sarah asked confusedly.

"Turn about. We will return to the cryogenic section."

"You're absolutely right. There's no time to lose. Come on."

-page break-

Noah had lead all of us back to the room with all the pods,walking behind us with gun pointed at us.

"I'm sorry," one of the men from the pods was saying to Vira as we walked in. "I saw something standing there."

"What was it you saw, Libri?" the Doctor asked.

"Silence!" Noah snapped. "You're here to answer questions, not ask them."

The man called Libri answered the Doctor'a question. "It was horrible. A shape. I'm sorry. I'm all right now."

"Temporary neuro-ocular confusion," Vira explained.

"The process is much too slow," the Doctor said. "They're not going to make it."

"No further warnings," Noah hissed.

"Yes, you'd shoot too, wouldn't you?" Harry retorted. "Nice fellow."

"Libri, keep these three under guard. Kill them if they give any trouble."

Libri took the gun from Noah and nodded. "Yes, sir."

Vira started asking Noah a few questions, but I didn't pay them any attention. I was tugging shyly on the Doctor's coat arm to get his attention. He turned to me with questions in his eyes, looking down at me and waiting.

"I don't remember everything, Doctor, but I do know that we need to do something about Noah. The thing that makes that green slime-y stuff has infected him. And it's really not good."

He nodded and started to respond when Libri waved his gun at us, telling us to be quiet or else he'd shoot. The Doctor nodded solemnly, putting a hand over my mouth.

"So sorry, Libri. She does talk an awful lot." I rolled my eyes and said the Time Lord's name against his hand. The Doctor tutted and shook his head. "Now, now, Diana. Don't aggravate Libri. He may shoot us."

I sighed against his hand and rolled my eyes again. "We have to stop Noah!" I exclaimed, but came out more like, "Muh have do thop Noah!"

The Doctor's eyes widened and he dropped his hand from my mouth. "He must be stopped," he told Vira and Libri.

Vira looked confused and a litle hurt. "Something has happened to his mind. There was a power fault during his revival."

The Doctor looked at Libri in a panic. "Get after him, man!"

"No, no, he gave me an order."

"Don't be an imbecile. Tell him, Vira."

Vira looked at the Doctor in resignation, then turned to Libri. "There is no procedure for stopping the revivification programme. It could be damaging, Libri."

"But he is our commander," the younger man protested.

"Can you be sure?"

Libri looked terribly confused. "What?"

The Doctor repeated himself, elaborating on his original sentence. "When you first saw him, you had a subconscious impression, you said, of something horrible. That wasn't Noah, was it?"

"No."

"Believe me, Libri, he must be stopped."

Vira nodded and Libri left.

"Good," the Doctor said.

"It's not advisable for you to try and escape," Vira told him warningly.

"You take some convincing that we're on your side, don't you? Now, what's all this about a missing technician?"

"Pallet three," Vira said slowly. "I found it empty."

Sarah stepped forward slightly as she voiced her opinion. "Noah thinks that we're to blame."

Harry seemed calm about the whole predicament. "Chap's jumped ship, that's all. Happens all the time."

"Oh, come on. A space satellite's a bit different from a ship, Harry," Sarah replied.

"You know, Sarah, I bet you there's the equivalent of a dinghy missing."

"It's not quite empty," the Doctor told them.

The Doctor used a strip of something I assumed was from the med kit to pick up a piece of the slimy green goo.

"Oh, what's that?" Vira asked, her voice a mix of curiosity and slight disgust.

"Membrane."

"Membrane?" Sarah and I repeated.

"Part of the eggshell."

"Where's it from?" I asked.

"It's almost too horrible to think about," the Doctor replied gravely. Went over to the giant insect and stared down at it. "The egg tube is empty," he said lowly.

"That thing?" Vira asked.

"The progenitor," the Doctor explained. "The queen coloniser."

Sarah looked at the Doctor in confusion. "I don't understand."

"Ever heard of the Eumenes?"

"Eumenes?" Harry repeated. "One of our frigates."

"It's a genus of wasps that paralyses caterpillars and lays its eggs in their bodies. When the larvae emerge, they have a ready made food supply. Strange how the same life patterns recur throughout the universe."

"Doctor, are you saying that that slug thing-"

"Ciliated larvae, Harry. Dune was power systems technician, I imagine."

"Yes, but how did you know?" Vira questioned.

"It, or they, went straight to the solar stack."

"You mean Dune's knowledge-"

"Has been thoroughly digested, I'm afraid."

Sarah frowned. "Don't make jokes like that, Doctor."

"When I say I'm afraid, Sarah, I'm not making jokes."

A few minutes later, a voice sounded throughout the room. I recalled that it was a ship wide announcement and listened carefully. "Hello, Space Station Nerva. This is the Earth High Minister. The fact that you are hearing my voice in a message recorded thousands of years before the day in which you are now living, is a sure sign that our great undertaking, the salvation of the human race, has been rewarded with success." The Doctor observed Vira's reaction at first, but soon decided to focus more on the woman speaking. I gently slipped my hand into his, offering him a silent message that I was there to help him. He understood my gesture, leaning over to press his lips against my forehead. I blushed and smiled, resting my head against his arm as we listened to the rest of the message. "You have slept longer than the recorded history of mankind, and you stand now at the dawn of a new age. You will return to an Earth purified by flame, a world that we cannot guess at. If it be arid, you must make it flourish. If it be stony, you must make it fertile. The challenge is vast, the task enormous, but let nothing daunt you."

Harry chuckled. "Sounds like a sort of pre-match pep talk."

"Remember," the woman continued, "citizen volunteers, that you are the proud standard bearers of our entire race. Of the millions that walk the world today, you are the chosen survivors. You have been entrusted with a sacred duty, to see that human culture, human knowledge, human love and faith, shall never perish from the universe. Guard what we have given you with all your strength.

"And now, across the chasm of the years, I send you the prayers and hopes of the entire world. God speed you to a safe landing."

Harry turned to Sarah, the Doctor, and I and smirked. "Well, I bet that did your female chauvinist heart a power of good."

"Why's that?" Sarah and I asked.

"Well, I mean, fancy a member of the fair sex being top of the totem pole."

I sent Harry a glare that clearly said "Shut up before I hurt you." I was about to tell him about Harriet Jones when a voice from the adjoining room called out; it was Noah.

"Vira! Vira!"

Vira ran into the other room, the rest of us trailing behind. "Noah! Yes, Commander?"

"Vira, hear me," Noah pleaded and i knew he was suffering, struggling against the monster consuming his boy and mind. "This is an order. Expedite revivification. Commence main phase now."

"But Noah, the safety checks-"

"Ignore safety checks! We- you are in great danger. Get our- your people to the Earth before-..."

"Noah?"

"Before the Wirrn-... Vira, take command. Now hear me. You take command!"

"What has happened?" Vira questioned worriedly. "Commander, are you there?"

"The Wirrn are here. They will-... We shall absorb the humans. The Earth shall be ours."

The Doctor looked at me and I could tell he realized that I knew this would happen. Ashamed, I looked away and pulled my hand from his.

"Noah! Noah!"

"Vira. Vira, there's no time." Noah's voice was more strained now, weaker. I buried my face in my hands. I'd done nothing to help him. "They're in my mind, getting stronger. Libri is dead. You will all die. Must save our people. You must!"

"Noah?" Vira cried. "Noah!"

The connection between Noah and us cut off and Vira's shoulders slumped sadly. I knew he had meant a lot to her, at the very least as a great leader.

"The chap sounds in a bad way," Harry commented.

Vira tuned to the Doctor. "What did he mean, they're in his mind?"

"Absorb?" The Doctor seemed confused. That was new. "We shall absorb the humans? Endoparasitism?"

"He talks to himself sometimes because he's the only one who understands what he's talking about," Sarah explained to Vira and Harry.

"If the Wirrn can do that, we've no chance at all," the Doctor said hopelessly. "Complete physical absorption."

"Of us?"

"They'll literally eat us alive. Vira, I must talk with Noah. You'd better come with me. He trusts you."

"My duty is to supervise the revivification."

"No. Noah has passed the command to you. Your duties have been widened."

"What is your intention?"

"To find out exactly what it is we're facing. And only Noah knows that."

"Doctor," I interjected. "Could I say-"

"But I cannot leave until the last of our technical section have awakened."

"Harry can handle that for you, can't you, Harry?"

Harry hesitated a little. "Well, I-"

"Well, you've watched Vira. You know the procedure."

"Yes, I-"

Vira looked Harry straight in the eyes, givig him his instructions. I looked back at the Doctor. "Doctor?"

"No."

"I haven't even asked the question yet!"

"I know what you're going to ask, Diana. I'm not a fool."

I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest like I had done earlier. "Why not? I can help you. You know that."

The Doctor took a step closer to me, his eyes worried as he gazed down at me. "I don't want you getting hurt. Please, Diana, stay here with Harry and Sarah."

"But Doctor-"

"Please," he repeated, cupping my face in his hands. "Noah could be very dangerous. I want you to stay here."

"And I don't want you to get hurt," I replied tenderly.

He smiled, leaning forward to rest his forehead against mine. "I'll come back, I promise."

"You better, you arrogant sod. I don't know how to fly the TARDIS."

"I'll teach you," he promised.

"Good." I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him. "Don't let him touch you. I don't remember if it's transferable or not, but just to be on the safe side."

Behind us, Vira cleared her throat. The Doctor and I sprang apart with blushing cheeks and lowered eyes. He quickly looked at me, then looked away again. "Well, we're off. Come along, Vira. Sarah, you stay and help Harry. And make sure Diana doesn't wander off."

"Alright, I will."

And the Doctor was gone in a flash, his scarf trailing behind him like a tail. I smiled and couldn't help but sigh dreamily once he and his scarf were completely out of sight.

To be perfectly honest, I didn't pay much attention to anything while the Doctor was gone. I knew that although it was dangerous here on the ship, the Doctor managed to save the day with Sarah, Harry, and Vira's help. I knew he survived the ordeal here and I knew he could do it. But I really wanted it to be over so that we could have a proper talk, him and I.

Surely he noticed my crush on him, didn't he? I mean, with the gazing into his eyes and the blushing and the hand holding and never leaving his side, I'd managed to make my feelings towards him blatantly obvious. If he did know, did he return those feelings? Probably not. But then, what was with him being so protective of me? He had protected me a few times already within two hours and had even fallen asleep at my bedside. Did that mean something? Or was I just making assumptions? It was just my luck to get the biggest crush in the universe on an alien.

* * *

"Dune and Libri? And Noah?" Rogin asked in shock.

"I'm sorry," Sarah said sympathetically. "It must be a terrible shock for you."

Lycett looked worried. "So there's just two of us left to check the ship?"

"And Vira. She's taken command."

"Where is she?" Lycett asked.

"She's gone with the Doctor. They're trying to contact Noah."

"There's been a snitch up. Didn't I tell you, Lycett? Five thousand years ago I said there'd be a snitch up."

"Ten thousand," Lycett corrected.

"Oh, beautiful. We should have taken our chance with the solar flares and gone into the thermic shelters. We'd have been happily dead by now."

"What was it that killed them? Their lungs, was it?"

Harry glanced back the two men. "Hmm?"

"Dune and Libri," Lycett clarified. "We were told our lung tissue might atrophy."

"Well, no, actually-"

"Something got in here," Sarah interrupted.

"That's right," Harry said confidently. "Some sort of space creature."

"It cut through your alarm clock system."

Rogin looked even more confused. "What?"

"Look," Sarah said as she led them over to the dead insect. "Oh, it's okay. It's dead."

"But unfortunately, its larvae are still very much alive," added a very familiar voice.

I whirled around and saw the Doctor, but he wasn't smiling like I was. He knew we were all in trouble and that he had to solve the problem as soon as possible.

Lycett and Rogin called Vira's name in relief, asking her what was happening.

She nodded to both of them "Welcome, Lycett, Rogin. You feel well?"

"Yes, Commander," they replied.

Harry started helping the Doctor move the Wirrn corpse into the middle of the room. I water in confusion, not remembering why the Doctor was moving the body.

"What are we going to do with it?" Harry asked.

"How much anatomy do you remember, Harry?"

"Quite a lot, I think, but you need a blooming entomologist for this thing."

The Doctor looked over the corpse. "We need to find its weaknesses and we need to find them quickly."

"Can we help?" Vira offered.

"Not at the moment, thank you."

Vira nodded. "Then we will commence the main phase. Lycett, Rogin."

The Doctor looked at Sarah and I. "What was that she just said?"

"They're going to start the main phase."

"What?" He turned to Harry. "Carry on with that thoracic incision. Not too deep."

I followed the Doctor into the adjoining room like a little puppy, hot on his heels. He tried to stop Vira, but she wouldn't hear of it.

"Noah said we should expedite the revivification programme and get our people to work."

"Noah was wrong," the Doctor replied. "How long would it take?"

"Seventy two hours for complete revivification, another twenty four to evacuate the Ark."

"Four whole days?"

I shook my head. "There's not enough time, Vira," I stated.

The Doctor nodded in agreement. "At the rate at which the Wirrn are developing, they'll have pupated to imago long before then, and you know what that means."

"We must try!"

"You can't do it, Vira. The Ark will be crawling with those creatures within hours."

"Doctor, the fate of all humanity might be decided within the next few hours."

Vira then nodded to Lycett and Rogin, who started working at the console.

"Vira," the Time Lord tried, "if you fail, your people will die in pain and fear. If I fail, they'll die anyway, but at least only the six of us will know anything about it."

"You have an alternative plan?"

"Between the larval and imago forms, there must be a pupal stage. Now, the Wirrn will be dormant and defenceless. If we can find their weaknesses-."

"We might destroy them?"

"Yes."

"Very well. Stand down," she told Lycett and Rogin.

"Good."

"There's a power flutter in section four, Commander."

"What does that indicate?"

"Some external fault. Shall I check the stacks?"

"No!" the Doctor cried. "The larvae have taken over the infrastructure. They seem to need solar radiation."

Rogin looked at his friend. "We should have stayed on Earth, Lycett. I liked the Earth. I like heat."

* * *

Harry, Sarah, and the Doctor were observing the giant insect and discussing its lungs and whatnot. I honestly didn't care about the damn bug's respiratory system, so I'd stayed away from the conversation and merely watched semi-interested from a distance as I mentally reviewed the remainder of the episode.

So far, everything was going as planned. No one had gotten hurt, except Noah and Libri unfortunately, and Sarah Jane was still alive. That was a definite plus. But the details of the story were still fuzzy to me. I could only recall a few vague details along with he basic ending, but I was afraid it might not be enough to help the Doctor.

In the adjoining room, the Doctor was setting up his experiment. I slowly walked into the room and leaned against the doorway, watching the Time Lord.

"Do you have any spare extension leads, Rogin?" the Doctor asked.

"Yes, but what do you want-"

"Hurry, man! Fetch them."

"What are you going to do, Doctor?" Vira questioned.

"A little experiment. Circuit display, Lycett."

"It's forbidden to alter those circuits," Vira told the Doctor. "I need the neural cortex amplifier. Not for long, don't worry."

The Doctor attached leads to the eye membrane. "Right, switch on the video circuit, Lycett. It'll take a little time to warm up."

"Doctor, what are you trying to do, exactly?" Harry asked in confusion.

"Sometimes latent neural impressions can be revived."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"I've never heard of that."

"Advanced technology. Gypsies used to believe that the eye retained its last image after death. Not so far out. No, it's not going to work. Switch off, Lycett."

Sarah looked at the Doctor. "Now what?"

"It should work. The coil isn't giving a strong enough stimulus. I'll have to link in my own cerebral cortex. That's the only thing"

"That is highly dangerous," Vira stated.

"I know. Two more leads, Rogin."

"The power could burn out a living brain!"

"I agree. An ordinary brain. But mine is exceptional."

I shook my head and smiled. He certainly thought he was something special. Well, actually he was.

"I cannot permit it. The shock might kill you."

"I think not. Unless, of course, the experiment was interrupted. That could be dangerous."

I stepped forward. "I can assure all of you that although its dangerous, the Doctor will survive. It's the only way we can fight the creatures."

"But do you have to do it, Doctor?" Sarah asked worriedly.

"If I can find out what it was that killed that creature," the Doctor explained, "we might have a chance of fighting the Wirrn. That's our only hope."

"Yes, but do you have to be the one-"

"It's not just our existence that's at stake, Sarah. It's the entire human race. If I don't do this, we may not have a chance against the Wirrn."

The Doctor fastened the wires to his temples. I felt a surge of panic in my veins; I knew he experienced a great deal of pain and I wanted to save him from that, but if I didn't then we might all get killed.

"It may be irrational of me, but human beings are quite my favourite species." The Doctor looked over his shoulder at me and gave me a half smile. "Vira."

"Yes, Doctor?"

"Take this." He gestured to the gun. "Don't hesitate to use it if anything goes wrong. You won't have much time."

"What do you mean?" I asked in a panic, not remembering what he meant.

"Switch on, Lycett."

The Doctor immediately tensed in pain, a grimace plastered on his face. It felt like my heart was breaking, even though I knew that he would be alright. I rushed forward and knelt at his side, resting my hands on his arm.

"Doctor!" I called. "Doctor, it's alright. I'm here."

"He's joining his mind to the Wirrn." Vira looked at the rest of us. "He could remain a part of it forever."

"He won't," I said.

The Doctor opened his eyes and looked at the screen in front of him. "Look, it's working."

There was a noise in the adjoining chamber, startling all of us.

Lycett and Rogin looked at each other. "What was that? We'd better look."

They left, a few noises coming from the room after they entered. Harry went after them, then returned with only Rogin. Lycett was dead.

Rogin closed the door to the chamber. "There's some sort of huge grub in there," he exclaimed.

Harry stepped forward. "Stop the experiment."

Sarah and I protested immediately. "No, you can't! You'll kill him!"

"The armoury, Rogin," Vira ordered. "Get the fission guns."

"Right."

"I'll come with you,'" Harry offered.

"Hurry, Rogin!"

Suddenly, the creature in the other room started banging against the door. I tried my best to block the noise out, and focused on the Doctor. He was in a lot of pain, so I continued to talk to him in a soothing voice and run my hands up and down his arm.

"That door won't hold much longer," Sarah noted.

The monitor then showed one of the Wirrn approaching a cryogenic pod and opening it.

"Dune," Vira said softly.

Something very tall and green started to ooze around the edge of the door. Then the monitor turned blank, so Sarah and I switched it off and removed the wires from the Doctor's head.

"Help me with him, Vira," Sarah pleaded.

"Wait," Vira replied. "Come away."

"Wirrn," the Doctor mumbled. "Wirrn."

"Doctor."

"Wirrn!"

"Doctor! Doctor!" Vira raised the gun when the Doctor didn't reply.

"No, don't!" I shouted, standing protectively in front of the alien. "I won't let you!"

"Can't what? Is it time to get up?"

I turned around and saw the Doctor staring up at me. He looked a little confused. "Doctor," I started as I cupped his face in one of my hands, "are you alright?"

"Is that noise in my head?"

Then Harry and Rogin entered, joining with Vira and started firing at the green thing pushing the door open. But then the door opened fully and the Wirrn stared at us. The Doctor approached it slowly.

"Doctor, come back," I pleaded in sync with Harry.

"Doctor, don't!" Sarah screamed. "Doctor! Doctor!"

I ran forward and grabbed the Doctor's shoulders, turning around to face me and then I pulled him back. I stumbled on his scarf and rammed my back against the wall, the Doctor slamming against me. He quickly moved his hands to rest against the wall, bracketing me in.

He looked over his shoulder at Vira. "Aim lower!" he ordered. Then he looked back at me with hard eyes. "Don't do that again, Diana. I don't want you getting yourself killed."

"I don't want you getting killed either, Doctor."

He sighed and stepped back, avoiding my questioning gaze. Behind him the Wirrn fell to the floor and slithered away. Harry and Rogin rushed forward and close the door, separating us from the creature.

"It's gone back through the grille," Rogin told us.

"That was a close one," Harry agreed. "You all right, Sarah?"

Sarah nodded. "Yes."

Both of them looked at the Doctor. "Doctor?"

"Why?" the Doctor asked himself. "Why have they gone over to the attack?"

"They want to destroy us," Vira responded.

"But they've only to wait. In their adult form they'll be a thousand times deadlier. Fission guns will have no effect then."

"How many of them will there be?" Sarah asked.

"At a hatching? A hundred."

"A hundred?" Harry repeated. "We won't stand a chance. How can we fight a hundred of those?"

"Electricity. Only by electricity. That's the one thing I found out."

I tilted my head to the side. "Electricity? How?"

"It was the auto-guard that killed the queen. Half a million volts."

"We found the queen in the cupboard," Harry stated.

"Amazing will power. I could feel it struggling against death until its task was done. Yes. Rogin, is there any way we can electrify the infrastructure?"

"Not from here, Doctor. We'd have to run cables from the control centre."

"Control centre? Right, let's go!"

"You can't go that way, Doctor," Harry said.

Rogin elaborated. "Noah's waiting out there. Put one foot inside the transom and you'll be dead."

"Ah yes, I was forgetting Noah's extra mobility."

"We're trapped" Vira said hopelessly.

"No. The Wirrn are using Dune's knowledge of the Ark. Perhaps there's something he didn't know"

"Dune was first tech. He knew it all. He helped design the systems."

"Nobody knows it all," the Doctor said with a smile. "Perhaps he's forgotten that these transmats are reversible?"

"Oh ho, that's clever," Rogin replied.

"Isn't it? And as you appreciate it, Rogin, you can go first. I'll give you a hand. Come on."

Rogin climbed over the console into the little alcove above it. "Oh well," Rogin was saying. "I never liked it here anyway."

The Doctor operated the controls and, in a non-literal flash, Rogin disappeared. "You next, Harry," the Doctor said.

Once Harry was gone, Sarah climbed up after him. But the power suddenly went out.

"That was a power drain," the Doctor realized. He pressed a button on the control panel. "Hello, control center?"

Rogin responded. "Hello, Doctor. We've got a power failure."

"It's general, then. Do you have a fault reading?"

"Section four. That's the secondary stack. There's no power coming from there at all."

His voice faded out and the room suddenly got darker.

"All power systems are self repairing," Vira said.

"Hmm. Malicious damage excluded."

Sarah sighed and clapped her hands against her thighs. "Oh well, obviously I am not going anywhere. Help me, Doctor."

Once Sarah had come down, we all stood in silence. Vira looked worried. "The oxygen pumps have stopped."

"Of course," the Doctor replied. "In their pupal stage, the Wirrn don't need oxygen. An easy way of killing us."

"Well, suffocation is not the most unpleasant death."

"What? We're not finished yet. You three stay here. And I mean all three of you."

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"The infrastructure. If they've entered the pupal stage, they'll be dormant." The Doctor cranked the door open by hand. "Give me a chance to get down there and switch the power back on."

"You're forgetting Noah," Vira reminded him.

"No, I'm not. I think his job's done now. He'll be metamorphosing too."

"Be careful, Doctor," I said softly.

"Don't wander off," he replied as he walked out the door.

Mere seconds later, Sarah touched my arm and smiled. "Let's go after him. Knowing him, he'll get himself killed."

"Agreed."

Vira, Sarah, and I followed the Doctor silently. Vira stayed in front with her gun pointed in the Doctor's direction in case he was attacked. He walked quickly into the power stacks room with his scarf trailing behind him.

The Doctor heard a sound, whirled about to face it, and saw the full grown Wirrn with Noah's face in it. It stepped forward to attack the Doctor, but Vira shoots the Wirrn before it can get too close to him. The Doctor flew past the creature and ran up the steps I where the three of us were standing.

"Run, Doctor! Run!" Sarah cried, encouraging him to leave the room entirely.

We all turned to leave when the Wirrn called Vira's name. "Stay, Vira. Stay. Abandon the Ark, Vira. Take the transport ship. Leave now. If you stay, you are doomed."

Vira looked torn between duty and emotion. "That would be desertion."

"Then you must die, all of you," the once human Wirrn hissed. "When the Wirrn emerge, you will be hunted down and destroyed, as you destroyed us."

Sarah shook her head and responed to the alien. "We've never destroyed. What does he mean?"

"Long ago, long ago humans came to the old lands. For a thousand years the Wirrn fought them, but you humans destroyed the breeding colonies. The Wirrn were driven from Andromeda."

"Andromeda?" Vira repeated. "So our star pioneers succeeded?"

"Since then we have drifted through space," the Wirrn said, "searching for a new habitat. The Ark is ours. It must be ours."

The Doctor stepped forward. "But the Wirrn live in space. You don't need the Ark."

"You know nothing," the Wirrn snapped. "We live in space, but our breeding colonies are terrestrial."

"But you could leave the Ark and go on. There's plenty of room in the galaxy for us all."

"In the old lands, senseless herbivores, cattle, were the hosts for our hatchlings. Now we shall use the humans in the cryogenic chamber. We shall be informed with all human knowledge. In one generation, the Wirrn will become an advanced technological species. We shall have power!"

"That proposition is genetically impossible," Vira replied.

The Wirrn grumbled. "I already have all Dune's knowledge. High energy physics, quantum mechanics. Every ramate in the next hatching of Wirrn will possess the sum of your race's learning. That is why you must die."

The Wirrn started to split, making strange and frankly terrifying noises as it did so.

The Doctor grabbed my hand and squeezed it. "Ah. Time to leave." Then he grabbed Sarah's hand as well and pushed us out through the doorway.

"Leave the Ark, Vira, or die with the rest of your race," the Wirrn hissed as Vira walked out of the room. She stopped and looked at the thing that was once Noah, then left him behind for good.

* * *

The four of us ran back to the control room as quickly as we could, which really sucked for me because I am not a fast runner nor am I a long distance runner. Vira and Sarah, and of course the Doctor, were having an easy time at running, but I definitely wasn't. I did my best not to show just how out of breath I was after running for just a short while, but failed miserably.

None of them said anyting cruel to me, which I was beyond grateful for. I'd had enough of that back home to last me the rest of my life. Sarah merely slowed her pace and ran next to me, staying in step with me as she kept brief conversation with me.

"If it makes you feel any better," Sarah told me, "I really hate the running around bit. I would much prefer to sit in the TARDIS instead of running all over the place like a chicken without its head."

I laughed. "I couldn't agree with you more, Sarah Jane," I responded.

Luckily, we reached the control room within a few minutes. I was completely out of breath and ehausted by the time we reached the door, but I was just glad we didn't need to do any more running. The Doctor was about to knock on the door when it slid open, Harry and Rogin standing behind it with a gun in Rogin's hands.

Harry's face softened when he recognized us. "Doctor! It's taken you long enough to get here. I was worried stiff."

"We bumped into Noah," the Doctor replied as he stepped through the doorway.

"Again?" Rogin asked.

"Yes. Quite chatty this time. Garrulous, even."

"You've got the power on?" Vira asked.

"No, Commander, I'm using photon energy. There's just enough to run the lights."

"Well, what did Noah say?" Harry asked.

"Vamoose or stick around and get killed," Sarah responded.

"Well, I'm ready to go. Doctor?"

"Anyone for a jelly baby?" the Doctor asked.

"Oh, I'd love one, Doctor!" I said happily, reaching my hands out. "I've enver had one before."

He smiled and dropped a few in my hands. "Eat slowly," he instructed. "Otherwise you won't be able to enjoy them and they'll ruin your appetite."

Harry looked around at us. "Well, look, why don't we all just pile into the TARDIS?"

"No?" the Doctor asked with a sort of smile.

"TARDIS?" Vira repeated confusedly.

"Yes," Harry explained. "A sort of spaceship thing in there. Plenty of room for all of us."

"Vira has no intention of leaving here, have you, Vira?"

"I can't."

"Of course you can't," the Doctor replied smoothly, "so neither can we."

Sarah nodded. "Ah well, that settles us."

"Besides," the Doctor continued, "we can't let the Wirrn eat through the cryogenic sleepers as though they were a lot of-"

"Jelly babies?" Harry finished.

"Exactly. Let them be turned into a lot of surrogate humans? It's the most immoral suggestion I've heard for a century."

Rogin gave the Doctor a confused look. "How can we stop them?"

"High voltage power. If we can somehow send enough electrical power through the bulkheads of the cryogenic chamber-"

"Like an electric fence?" Sarah tried.

"Yes. The Wirrn would never dare to cross it. The only problem is we don't have any electrical power and they control its sources, the solar stacks."

"Well, we can forget that idea then, can't we?" Harry said hopelessly.

Sarah appeared to be deep in thought. "Doctor."

The Doctor considered his options for a moment, completely ignoring Sarah. "Unless we can lure them out of the infrastructure..."

"No, wait a minute," Sarah tried again.

"How can we do that?" Vira questioned.

"Bait. Human bait! If one of us could distract them for a few moments, I might be able to get down there and turn the power on."

"Doctor, will you listen?!" Sarah cried, frustrated.

"Sarah, we're trying to make a plan."

"It wouldn't work, Doctor," Vira relplied. "If they have Dune's knowledge, they'd simply turn it off again."

"Not if we electrify the switch itself."

Rogin shook his head a little. "That would take a long time. Those switch boxes are non-conductive."

"Well we can't do without oxygen indefinitely. What was that you were trying to say, Sarah?"

"I was just wondering about the transport ship that Noah mentioned."

"What about it?"

"Well, surely it has its own power system, doesn't it?" Sarah looked hopeful at her own suggestion.

"Four granovox turbines!" Rogin exclaimed. "That ship can generate twice the power of the Ark!"

"How can we reach it?" the Doctor asked.

Vira called up a map of the Ark onto the screen in front of us. "Here's the connecting ramp," she said as she pointed a finger at the spot on the map. "It's less than a hundred metres from this control room.

"The only trouble is, how do we run a cable from the ship to the cryogenic chamber?" Rogin stated. "If it's in the open, they'll cut it."

The Doctor furrowed his brows. "Aren't there conduits?"

"Yes, but they're only about this wide." The size Rogin indicated was small, but just large enough for a very small person's shoulders. A person like Sarah. "We'd need a mechanical cable runner."

Sarah had an "aha!" moment, a smile on her face. "Why can't I take that cable through? Well, I'm about that wide."

"It's hardly a job for you, Sarah," Harry commented passingly.

Rogin, on the other hand, was all for Sarah's iddea. "I reckon she might just squeeze through, Doctor."

The Doctor smiled brightly at Sarah. Again I felt a twinge of jealousy. "Good girl, Sarah. Come on, we'd better hurry. The Wirrn are going to start moving any moment. You five go to the transport ship and I'll start wiring up the cryogenic chamber."

"I'll be coming with you, Doctor," I said firmly. "You're not leaving me behind this time."

He quickly looked at the others and motioned for them to start for the transport ship. As soon as they started moving, he looked back at me. "Can you be sure that you'll be safe if you come with me? Because that is the most important thing right now. Other than saving everyone else's lives, that is."

I smiled. "Doctor, everyone here is in danger. Whether they're with you or not. I just... don't want to leave you."

I felt a blush consume my face as soon as the words left my mouth. Why did you say that? I asked myself. That was stupid! Now he's going to know for sure that you have an enormous crush on him! But the Doctor didn't retort with a cruel remark or laugh in my face. Instead, he took my hands in his and held them tightly in his. Our eyes met and, for a second, it felt like we weren't facing certain death.

"Nor I you," he replied softly. "Now come one."

* * *

We didn't run on our way back to the chamber. We walked hand in hand, heads held high and backs straight, and we made it to the chamber without a single scratch or bruise. There we waited for Sarah to make it through the tunnel-conduit thing-y. Or at least, I waited while the Doctor did his scientific mumbo-jumbo and rewired the entire room. But we didn't have to wait too long because we ended up having company. One of the Wirrn had been making noise in the adjoining room, but the Doctor had paid no notice to it until it tried to get in.

With only seconds until the creature was in the chamber with us, which meant death, the Doctor pushed me into an empty pod and followed me in. I started to protest, insisting that he get his own bloody pod, when he clamped a hand over my mouth and shushed me. There was hardly enough room for both of us to breath inside the pod, but we somehow managed to make it work. I suppose being mere feet away from death was what made it work, but that doesn't mean that it was at all comfortable.

I could see the Wirrn through the foggy plastic of the pod, even though the Doctor's coat and wild hair were mostly in the way of my vision. It was in that stupid pod where breathing was difficult and the Doctor's hand was over my mouth and our bodies were completely touching that I realized that even though it was dangerous, I loved this life that the Doctor had. And I was so glad to be a part of his.

Once the Wirrn had left the room, the Doctor and I stumbled out of the pod. He quickly returned to work on rewiring the chamber, leaving me to do basically anything. So I decided to watch him until Sarah got through the conduit thing with the cable. Within minutes, the Doctor had finished with the wiring. He smashed a triangular shaped hatch above a destroyed grill in the wall and stuck his head in, listening for Sarah. I moved to his side and copied his actions.

Down the tunnel, I could hear Sarah struggling to get through. It was a narrow fit for her, I knew, but both the Doctor and I knew she could make it. "I keep getting stuck!" Sarah cried.

"Come on, Sarah," the Doctor said encouragingly. "Hurry!"

"Doctor? Where are you?"

"Straight ahead. Look, I'll shine a light." He pulled a flashlight out of his coat pocket and flashed it down the conduit. "Can you see?"

"Yes!" But then sarah let out a cry of frustration. "Oh, Doctor, I can't move!"

"Of course you can. You've got this far."

"It's alright, Sarah!" I called down the tunnel. "You can do it!"

"No, I'm stuck!"

"Don't panic, Sarah," the Doctor encouraged. "Don't panic. Ease round and try again."

"I'm jammed. I can't move forward or back."

"It's alright, Sarah!" I encouraged. "You're so close! I know you can do it!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes and turned away from the conduit, looking up at the ceiling. "Oh, stop whining, girl. You're useless."

"Oh, Doctor!" Sarah cried, hurt.

I looked at the Doctor and whacked him in the arm. "Oi! Rude and not ginger!" I shout-whispered.

" 'Oh, Doctor!' Is that all you can say for yourself? Stupid, foolish girl. We should never have relied on you. I knew you'd let us down." I was about to scold him again when the Doctor winked at me. Then I remembered that he was trying to push Sarah forward with his words. "That's the trouble with girls like you. You think you're tough, but when you're really up against it, you've no guts at all. Hundreds of lives at stake and you lie there, blubbing."

"You wait till I get out!" Sarah snapped. Her hands suddenly emerged from the conduit. The Doctor and I reached forward to help her. "I can manage! I don't need your help, thank you!"

"Yes, you do. Yes, you do," the Doctor replied as we both pulled Sarah out.

She put a hand to her hips. "Ow."

"Splendid!" the Doctor said a he untied the cable from Sarah's waist.

"Go away."

"You've done marvellously, Sarah. I'm very proud of you. I really am very proud of you."

"What?" Sarah looked at me and sighed. "Conned again. You're a brute, Doctor."

"Me, a brute?"

"Yes," Sarah and I answered.

"Don't be ungrateful. I was only encouraging you. Come on."

Sarah then remembered her bluetooth-ish device and talked into it. "Oh, hello, Rogin? The Doctor's connecting the cable now."

"Beautiful," Rogin answered. "Let me know when to switch the power through."

"Sarah, close the door to the access chamber."

"Right."

Sarah took off her headset and went over to the door. Through the dorway she saw a Wirrn. She pulled the door shut with a squeal and ran back to the middle of the chamber, linking her arm with mine.

"Are you ready, man?" the Doctor asked Rogin.

"Yes."

"Switch on now!"

A surge of electricity enveloped the door to the adjoining room. The Wirrn was most likely touching the door because it started screeching.

When the current stopped, the Doctor nodded. "Not bad for a lash up."

"Has it gone, do you think?" Sarah questioned.

The Wirrn started squeaking from the other side of the wall.

"Reporting to the others. They'll know where we are now," the Doctor told us.

Vira's voice came through Sarah's headset. "Hello, Doctor? Are you all right down there?"

"For the moment."

"You lack confidence?"

"The Wirrn don't give up that easily. They need the Ark. How is it on your end?"

"There's been no sign of them in this part of the Ark."

Sarah looked worriedly at the door across the room; more squeaking Wirrn voices could be heard. "Doctor?"

"I think we've got some more visitors. Don't let the power drop."

The three of us tiptoed over to the door and placed our ears against it. "Gone away," the Doctor noted.

"I think so. I can't hear anything now."

"Either discretion is the better part of valour, or-..."

"Or what?" I asked slowly.

"Or they're planning something."

"Yes, but we're safe here, aren't we?" Sarah asked.

"Unless they chew through the floor. I've left a free-running cable just in case. The insulation should stand up to it."

A Wirrn arm reached through the grill and wraped around Sarah's legs. She shrieked and tried to pull away. "Doctor!" I grabbed her arm, the Doctor copying my movements, and pulled her away from the alien's limb.

Then the Doctor grabbed a free cable and jabed it at the Wirrn's head. There was a flash and then the insect retreated. "Cheer up," the Doctor said, "we're still on our feet."

"Those things are so venomous," Sarah muttered sadly. "They'll never give up."

"No, and neither shall we, Sarah. What we're protecting here is too precious."

Suddenly we heard the power switch back on, the engines powering back to life and the oxygen level increasing. We all looked at each other, confused.

"Why have they turned the power back on?" Sarah asked.

"We'll find out soon enough," the Doctor responded gravely.

The voice of Wirrn-Noah came over the intercom. "Vira, can you hear me?

The Doctor answered for her. "She can hear you. What do you want, Noah?"

"Your resistance is useless. We control the Ark."

"And we control the cryogenic chamber. I repeat, what do you want?"

"We offer you safe passage from the Ark. Surrender now and your lives will be spared."

The Doctor shook his head. "Not a chance."

"What does Vira say?

"She agrees with me. Don't you, Vira?"

"Let Vira speak. She is the Commander."

"She's busy, resuscitating more humans."

"You lie!" the Wirrn hissed.

"Listen, Noah. Now hear me. You're beaten. The Ark is of no value to you without its humans, so why don't you just leave us in peace?"

"Humans require two mass pounds of oxygen a day to stay alive, Doctor. We Wirrn can live for years without fresh oxygen. If you refuse to surrender, we shall shut down the oxygen pumps."

The Doctor paused, suspecting a trap. "And if we surrender?"

"I have said. You will be allowed to leave the Ark."

"The Wirrn hate all humans. Once we step outside this chamber we'd be attacked."

"I am the swarm leader. I guarantee your safety. The Wirrn will spare your lives, but leave the sleepers for us!"

"Noah, listen to me," the Doctor pleaded. As he spoke I realize that it was moments like these, when there seemed to be no hope left and he still offered the villain a way out, that made me respect and love and admire the Doctor. "If there's any part of you that's still human, if you've any memory of the man you once were, leave the Ark. Lead the swarm into space. That's where the Wirrn belong, Noah. Not on Earth, not where you were born. Remember the wind and the sun, the fields, the blue sky? That's Earth, Noah. It's for the human race. Don't abandon it."

"I have no memory of the Earth," the Wirrn hissed.

The Doctor seemed to realize then that there was no hope in reasoning with Noah. He grabbed Sarah's headset and tried to get back in contact with Harry, Vira, and Rogin. A loud blast interrupted him, startling all three of us "Are you all right over there?"

"Ahoy there, Doctor," Harry replied. "Yes, we're fine, thanks."

"We heard a rocket engine."

"Oh, just a warning blast. How are things with you?"

"All right at the moment."

"Good."

"Keep in touch."

"I don't know if its my imagination,' Sarah started, "but it seems to be getting stuffy in here."

"Hm? It's your imagination."

Sarah scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "You'd say that anyway."

A few moments later, Vira's voice came through the headset. "Doctor, the Wirrn have space walked round the Ark and have broken into our cargo hold."

"How many of them are there, Vira?"

"We cannot say, but it looks as though the entire swarm is attacking."

"How long will it take them to reach your control deck?"

"A few minutes only. The interior bulkheads have a low stress factor."

"Tell Rogin to cut the power. We're coming out."

"Power off, Doctor," Rogin said.

"Good. Set the controls on automatic takeoff and evacuate the ship. Hurry!" Then the Doctor grabbed mine and Sarah's hands and pulled us towards him. "Come on, you two! Run, run!"

We made it to the transport ship within minutes. I breathing fast and hard, as was Sarah, when we reached the steps leading to safety inside the ship. The Doctor ordered everyone to climb onboard the Ark as fast as they could, then instructed Harry to watch over Sarah and I. I asked the Doctor if there was anyhting I could do to help.

"No, Diana. You've helped enough," he said with a sad smile. I briefly wondered why he looked sad, but thought it was only because he was sorry that he hadn't been able to save Noah, Lycett, or Dune. "Stay with Harry and the others. They'll keep you safe."

I nodded. "You be careful, Doctor."

"I will be. I promise."

I smiled and ran into the Ark as fast as I could. Vira was waiting inside with Harry and Sarah, watching me when I came in. They nodded briefly at me, then turned away to watch the screen in the control room. I realized a few minutes later that Rogin wasn't with us, just as the transport ship blew up in an enormous explosion. I gasped and felt my heart plummet.

"I didn't-... I don't remember that-..." Tears filled my eyes as I watched the screen. "The Doctor..." Sarah let out a sob and shook her head, then rested it against Harry's shoulder. I covered my mouth to keep from making any sound as I cried. "Doctor..."

"They must have both died instantly," Vira said slowly.

"Come on, Sarah," Harry said gently as he comforted the journalist. "He'd have wanted you to be brave."

Suddenly, the Doctor appeared right beside me. He looked almost dazed as he looked at all of us. I stared open-mouthed at him, hardly able to believe my own eyes. Vira, although shocked, immediately asked where Rogin was.

"Rogin's dead. I woke up in a protection hatch," the Doctor said softly.

"Oh, Doctor," Sarah said, relieved. "You're safe."

"We're all safe now, Sarah, thanks to Rogin's bravery. And, perhaps, something else."

"Something else?"

"Yes, some vestige of human spirit. Was Noah on our side and one step ahead of us at the end?"

"You mean by leading the swarm into the shuttle?" Vira questioned.

The console beeped and Harry pointed. "Look!"

"Space Station Nerva," Vira said in confusion.

The Wirrn that was once Noah spoke for the last time. "Goodbye, Vira," it said before the shuttle exploded.

"He must have known that would happen," Vira noted. "Noah deliberately neglected to set the rocket stabilisers."

"More than a vestige of human spirit," the Doctor stated happily. "It can all begin now, Vira. Mankind is safe."

"I must get my people back to Earth. Now that I've lost the transport ship, I shall have to rely on the matter transmitter."

"Yes."

"It'll be a long operation. It can only convey three people at a time."

"Yes, it would if it was functioning properly." The Doctor stuffed his hands in his pocket, probably searching for his sonic screwdriver. "The signal's faulty. Probably the diode receptors. I'll just beam down and check them."

"Down to Earth?" Sarah asked incredulously.

"Yes, that's where the trouble is. Here-" he took his TARDIS key from his pocket and handed it to Sarah "- fetch me a coat from the TARDIS, will you? You never know what the solar flares have done to the weather."

"It isn't anything serious?" Vira asked as Harry and Sarah left to go into the TARDIS.

"What? Probably no more than a spot of corrosion. Whatever it is, it shouldn't take long to fix, and it'll give me a chance to see if the planet is fully viable again." The Doctor looked in the direction Sarah and Harry had left it. "What's keeping them? Sarah!"

"Coming!"

I grabbed the Doctor's scarf and made him turn and look at me. "You!" I said, pointing an accusing finger at him. "You knew you were going to die and you didn't think to tell me?"

"Of course not, Diana. Don't be ridiculous."

"Ridiculous? Doctor, I've met your future selves! If you have any plans on dying, you're going to need to tell me about them! Because if you had died here, it would have meant that I'd never met you at all! I never would have gone to Italy with you, or seen the end of the world with Rose, or gotten that journal from you, or given you your hat when you crashed into your own TARDIS. Those moments were important to me and they always will be. So don't go getting yourself killed and rewriting time."

The Doctor sighed and nodded. "I'm sorry."

"You should be..." I smiled a little and ducked my head down. "I nearly shed a tear for you, you twit."

He cupped my chin and made me look up at him. "I'd say there are a few tears still there," he answered with a cocky smile and soft eyes.

I didn't answer, just shook my head stubbornly and sniffled. The Doctor pulled me into a hug and held me tight against his chest. I wrapped my arms around his waist and sighed. We stayed that way for a blissful eternity until something strange happened: my entire body felt like it was on fire. Every place that the Doctor and I touched felt like it was icy and on fire at the same time. Gasping, I pulled away from him and shook my hands. The pain only increased as I put more distance between me and the Doctor, so I tried stepping closer to him again.

"What's wrong?" he asked me worriedly.

"I-I think... I think I'm leaving," I answered shakily. "Doctor, I don't want to go yet."

"I know."

"Doctor, please!" I cried as the burning sensation strengthened. "Make it stop! Make it-"


	6. The Spearhead From Space: Part 1

"-stop!"

The burning sensation stopped as soon as I blinked. My voice echoed around me as I slowly realized that my surroundings had changed again. I looked around and noticed that the TARDIS console was different than the few times I'd seen it before.

"Hello?" I asked a little loudly. "Doctor? Are you in here?"

"Diana! Please!"

I whirled around and saw the Doctor crumpled on the floor. My legs brought me in a flash to the Doctor's side. I fell to my knees and reached out to touch his shoulder. He was young, in his second incarnation, and he was dying.

"Oh, Doctor. I'm so sorry."

He looked up at me with pain shining deep in his eyes. One hand reached up to my face as he tried to smile. "I-I never... I never told you..." He suddenly let out a cry as his body spasmed.

I worriedly brought a hand to his cheek, looking straight into his eyes. "It's alright, it's alright. I'm here now."

Again he tried to smile, but it turned into a grimace. He heavily rested his other hand on top of mine and sighed. "I don't regret it," he breathed. Then he cried out again and, with a strength I didn't know he had, he shoved me away from him.

I landed on my back with a grunt. Sitting up, I saw a slight gold tint hovering around his face and hands; he was regenerating. His name passed my lips countless times as I watched the golden glow overcome his body. The sight of his regeneration literally made me breathless. Watching the transformation from one face to another, young to old, Two to Three, made me freeze in awe and fear.

Immediately after the golden glow died down, I scrambled to the Doctor's side and took his face in my hands. His eyes flew open as he stared up at me with wide eyes. He pushed my hands away and stood up, albeit a little wobbley on his new legs. He stumbled forward until he collapsed on the TARDIS console, breathing heavily. I rushed to his side again and firmly gripped his shoulders.

"Doctor? Doctor, what's wrong?"

His eyes fluttered between open and closed as he looked from me to the console. "T-The TARDIS," he murmured.

"She's safe, Doctor. But I'm worried about you. What happened?"

With nothing more than a grunt in respsonse, the Doctor ripped himself out of my arms and walked slowly towards the TARDIS doors with halting steps. I kept a few paces behind him in case he turned violent for some reason, but still remained close enough to help him if something went wrong. He reached forward and pulled the left door open. He leaned heavily against it as he looked around his surroundings before his head fell back and his body fell forward.

"Doctor!" I gasped, running forward.

I gently turned him onto his back so that he could be a little more comfortable and lightly tapped the palm of my hand against his cheek. But he didn't stir at all; he just lay there with his chest rising and falling in a steady pattern. A sigh escaped my lips as I rested a hand above his left heart.

"I'm so sorry," I muttered to his unconscious form. "But I'm glad that you didn't regenerate alone."

Suddenly shouts were echoing all around me and the thudding of feet on the grassy earth was circling the open area the TARDIS had landed in. I stood protectively in front of the Doctor with my hands raised slightly. A group of men who looked like soldiers stepped through the trees in front of me. They pointed in my direction and approached quickly with guns in their hands.

"Who are you?" one of the men asked me. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm Diana and this is the Doctor." I pointed to the Time Lord at my feet. "He's sick and his TARDIS landed here on accident."

"The Doctor?"

"Yes, the Doctor." I tried to look as though I wasn't intimidated by these tall men with guns, but I was truly shaking in my shoes. They didn't look like they trusted me at all, so I quickly asked them to take me to the Brigadier. "He'll know me." I hope, I thought worriedly.

* * *

"Munro here, sir. I'm in the Ashbridge Cottage Hospital."

I waited patiently for the man to finish his call with the Brigadier, hoping and praying to God that the Brigadier would know me somehow. But I tried to appear completely at ease and calm so no one would think I was up to something.

"No, sir. All we've found is an unconscious civvy and a girl." A pause. "He was lying beside a police box, sir, and the girl was standing next to him. The box was abandoned by the look of it. Right in the middle of Oxley Wood." There was another pause, this one a bit longer than before. "He's here at the hospital, sir, undergoing treatment... No, sir. Not a syllable. He's out to the wide... The girl? She says you know her, sir." Then the man turned to me with the phone receiver in his hand. "He wants to talk to you, miss."

A little surprised, I took the phone and answered it. "H-Hello?"

"Diana, is that you?" the Brigadier asked frantically.

A smile broke out across my face. "Yes, it's me."

"Tell me, dear, what happened?"

"He re-... Actually, Brigadier, I think I should tell you in person."

"Ah, yes. Of course. You stay there, then, and wait for me. I'll be over as soon as I can."

"Alright."

"Could you hand me back to Munro, please, Miss Scott?"

"Sure."

I did as the Brigadier had instructed and stepped back. I was beyond relieved that someone here knew me, but was completely confused as to how and why. Perhaps I'd met the Brigadier earlier in his life? If so, was I with the Doctor? I hoped so because a life without the Doctor in it was rapidly becoming an idea I didn't want to think about.

"A guard, sir? Very well, sir. Oh, do you want the police told, sir, about the police box? They may want it back."

The man hung up a few seconds later. Then he turned to be and nodded slightly. "I'm to take to you to the gentleman's room now, miss."

"Oh." I smiled politely and clasped my hands behind my back. "Okay."

* * *

"Nurse, this is Miss Scott. She's a friend of your patient. Orders from UNIT that she is to remain with him until the Brigadier arrives."

The nurse looked me up and down and then offered me a semi-smile. "Miss Scott, I'm Nurse Dorward."

"Nurse," I replied formally. "It's nice to, uh, meet you."

"Likewise. Now, if you'll come with me, I'll take you to see your friend. Thank you,sir."

Nurse Dorward turned on her heel and led me down a hallway at a brisk pace. I was anxious to see the Doctor and make sure that he was alright. I knew that he'd had a traumatic regeneration because of the Time Lords and that my appearance had seemed to make him both happy and pained. So when the nurse opened the door to the Doctor's room and pointed inside, I practically flew in.

He was still unconscious, but he didn't look sick or hurt. I hurried to his side and rested a hand on his arm. The nurse came up behind me and asked if I wanted a chair. "Yes, please," I responded as I continued to gaze down at the sleeping Time Lord.

As soon as Nurse Dorward left, the Doctor's eyes flew open and he sat straight up in his bed. I jumped backwards in surprise and let out a squeak. He looked up at me, confused. I smiled at him and reached out to rest my hand on his arm again.

"Doctor?" I asked slowly. "Are you alright?"

"Shoes," he told me. "Shoes." Then he leaned over the edge of his bed in search of his shoes. I gently gripped his wrist and stopped him. "I must find my shoes!"

"Doctor, your shoes are just fine. But you need to rest."

"Must find my shoes," he mumbled as he rolled onto his side and passed out again.

I sighed. Nurse Dorward came in a minute later with a chair for me. She placed it right next to the Doctor's bed and smiled. "Is he doing alright?" she asked me.

"Yes. Just fine. And thank you for the chair."

"You're very welcome, miss." She gave the Doctor a quick glance over before looking back at me. "Alert me or Doctor Henderson if he wakes up. I shall be back in ten minutes."

"Alright. And thanks again."

The nurse left without another glance. I grabbed the chair and scooted it up by the Doctor's head so I could keep a close eye on him. Once I was settled, I let out a long breath and slumped in my chair. The room was deathly quiet and for once since I had met the Doctor, I was able to sit and think in peace.

And think I did. I thought about Nine, so sad and upset and bitter, claiming that he'd lost me, blaming himself for my apparent death. I thought about Eight, so sweet and romantic and gentle, looking at me with soft and caring eyes, giving me a TARDIS journal. I thought about Five and Ten, how they both seemed to care a great deal for me, how Five called me "darling" and Ten smiled so brilliantly when I looked at him. Then I thought about Four, the Doctor who had protected me with his life, who called me "Princess" and held my hand and seemed to like me very much.

I looked at Three and sighed again. I'd met the Doctor, a Time Lord who wasn't even supposed to exist, six different times and I was already violently opposed to the idea of never meeting him again. If I was completely honest with myself, which I rarely was, I would gladly spend the rest of my life with him. And why not? Back home on Earth 2013, I was all but head-over-heels in love the Doctor. Everything in my life related to him and his companions and his precious time traveling police box and I didn't want this new life to be any different.

I leaned forward and ran the back of my hand across the Doctor's cheek. He looked older in this incarnation, but I'd always really loved Three. He was dashing, strong, intelligent (as always), sarcastic and very handsome.

"Thank you," said the Brigadier as he walked through the doorway into the room.

I gasped in surprise and jumped to my feet, drawing my hand away from the Doctor's face as quickly as I possibly could. My cheeks were practically on fire when the Brigadier looked at me, one eyebrow raised in silent questioning. He glanced from the Doctor to me and seemed to understand; he'd seen me pull away from the Doctor.

"H-Hello, Brigadier," I said shyly.

He smiled and shook his head amusedly. "Miss Scott, how many times must I ask you to call me Alistair?"

I blushed even more and grinned. "At least once more, it would seem."

The man who had called the Brigadier earlier and Doctor Henderson had followed Liz and Alistair. "Oh, Doctor Henderson," the telephone man started, "this is Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and, er-"

"Elizabeth Shaw," Liz finished.

"Well, how's your patient, doctor?" the Brigadier asked Doctor Henderson. "Can we see him?"

Henderson sighed a little. "Well, you can see him, certainly. He's not making much sense yet."

"What, still unconscious, eh?"

"Most of the time. He has brief moments of consciousness and then slips back again."

"Well, what's actually wrong with him?" Liz asked.

Henderson gave the Doctor a glance. "I can't say. Never had a patient quite like him before.

His statement confused Liz, who didn't really know who or what the Doctor was. "How do you mean?"

"Well, his whole cardiovascular system is quite unlike anything I've ever seen. And I'm told his blood can't be identified."

Alistair smiled. "Splendid. That sounds like the Doctor."

"Oh, wait a minute, Brigadier," I said, putting a hand out in front of me to stop him. "I need to tell you something. The Doctor... Well, he's changed. He's changed his appearance."

"Changed his appearance? Nonsense."

"It's true! He had to, he had no choice. He's different now, but he's still the same Doctor you and I know."

"Let me see, then," he replied curiously.

Liz and Alistair stepped forward; I turned around and gently rolled the Doctor onto his back. I heard the Brigadier grumble a little as he came to stand directly behind me. I looked over my shoulder at him and smiled.

"I told you," I said.

"But, that's not the Doctor! He looks nothing like him! I-I've never seen him before in my life!"

The Doctor chose that exact moment to wake up. He quickly scanned the faces hovering over him and smiled. "Lethbridge-Stewart? My dear fellow, how nice to see you again."

"He seems to know you, sir," the telephone man said.

"But he can't do." The Brigadier exhaled in frustration. "Look here. Can you hear me? Who are you?"

"Don't you recognise me?" the Doctor asked somewhat worriedly.

"I'm positive we've never met before."

The Doctor pressed his lips together. "Oh, dear. Oh, I can't have changed that much, surely? Oh, I must see what they've done to me. Can I borrow-... Can I borrow a mirror, please?"

Behind me and the Brigadier, Liz dug a compact mirror out of her purse and handed it to him. The Doctor took it, thanked Liz, and looked, for the first time, at his new appearance. I could tell immediately that he was not entirely pleased with it.

"Oh, no! Oh, no. Well, that's not me at all. No wonder you didn't recognise me. Oh, that face. That hair." He turned his head from one side to the other and prodded his face with his fingers. Then he smiled a little bit. "Oh, I don't know, though. I think it's rather distinctive, actually. Don't you think? No, of course you don't."

"I happen to like it very much, Doctor," I added happily.

He looked up at me and grinned. "Do you now? That's splendid." He winked and closed the mirror. I noticed he had become tired very quickly, as I knew he would because of his regeneration. "Oh, anyway, I'm tired. All this exercise and exertion. It's been too much. Have to get some sleep now."

His eyes had slid closed as his voice trailed off until finally, he was asleep again. This frustrated the Brigadier and he immediately protested. "Now, just a minute. Wake up, man! Listen to me!"

Doctor Henderson stepped forward with a hand outstretched. " I think that's quite enough for the moment. His mind's obviously disturbed. Anyway, I'm afraid he's out again."

We all looked at the Doctor to see that he was, in fact, quite unconscious. The Brigadier looked at me in confusion. "Miss Scott, are you absolutely sure this man is the Doctor?"

"Without a single doubt in my mind, Brigadier. I saw him change with my own eyes. I know for a fact that this is the Doctor."

He raised in eyebrows in disbelief, though he actually seemed to trust me. He turned to the other officer and said, "Extraordinary business. Munro, I want this man brought to London HQ." Then he looked at Doctor Henderson. "When will he be fit to travel?"

"Difficult to say."

"I see." Alistair pressed his lips together and nodded stiffly. "Well, as soon as possible, Munro. In the meantime, carry on the search for these meteorites."

"Very good, sir," the man whose name I now knew as Munro replied.

The Brigadier looked to the human doctor and asked, "Is there another way out of here? I want to avoid the press, if possible."

Doctor Henderson nodded and pointed towards the door. "This way."

"Thank you."

Liz, the Brigadier, and Munro all turned and left the room with Henderson, leaving me with the unconscious new Doctor. With a sigh, I sat back down in my chair. I crossed my right leg over my left knee and cupped my head in my hand. Since there was absolutely nothing to do except stare at the back of the Doctor's head, I started singing very softly.

"_It started out as a feeling, which then grew into a hope. Which then turned into a quiet thought, which then turned into a quiet word. And then that word grew louder and louder 'til it was a battle cry: I'll come back when you call me, no need to say goodbye. Just because everything's changing doesn't mean it's never been this way before. All you can do is try to know who your friends are as you head off to the war. Pick a star on the dark horizon and follow the light. You'll come back when it's over. No need to say good bye. You'll come back when it's over. No need to say good bye... Now we're back to the beginning. It's just a feeling and no one knows yet. But just because they can't feel it too doesn't mean that you have to forget. Let your memories grow stronger and stronger 'til they're before your eyes. You'll come back when they call you. No need to say good bye. You'll come back when they call you. No need to say good bye._"

The Doctor turned around in his bed to face me as soon as the last word had left my lips. He stared at me, looking confused yet pleased. I wasn't sure if he was suffering from amnesia or just pretending to be worse off than he really was to fool the doctors here.

"Doctor?" I asked. "A-Are you alright?"

"You always sing. You never stop singing. Everywhere, there is music. The Bad Wolf's music."

I felt my jaw drop and my eyes grow wide. "The what?"

Then he blinked. "Shoes," he muttered. "I must find my shoes!"

I reached forward and grabbed the Doctor's wrist. "Doctor, please. Why did you say that? 'The Bad Wolf's music'? What does it mean?"

"Shoes, shoes. Where are my shoes?"

Then Nurse Dorward walked in with Doctor Henderson close behind. The nurse walked around the Doctor's bed and gently took one of his arms. "Sir, please stay still for a few minutes. I'm going to take your pulse."

But the Doctor wouldn't sit still. He kept trying to lean over his bed and find his shoes. "I must find my shoes."

"Why? You don't need them," the nurse replied. "You're not going anywhere."

"You don't understand, madam. It's most important."

I crouched down in front of the Time Lord and cupped his cheek. "Doctor, what's so important? Why do you need your shoes? Are you looking for the TARDIS key?"

Doctor Henderson wandered over to stand by the nurse's side. "How is he, nurse?"

"His pulse seems to have settled down, sir. Ten a minute."

"Yes, well, the trouble is, we don't know what's normal for him, do we?" He walked over to where I was sitting and tapped me on the shoulder. "Excuse me, miss? Could you move back so I can speak with him?"

"Sure." I jumped up and took a step back.

Doctor Henderson leaned over to look at his patient. He smiled warmly. "Hello! How are you feeling?"

"Shoes," was all the Doctor said.

Nurse Dorward sighed. "They seem to be worrying him, sir. I think he believes they've been stolen."

"Well, if he wants them, he might as well. Where are they, nurse?"

"In his locker."

Doctor Henderson opened the small locker by the head of the Doctor's bed and pulled out a pair of black boots. He handed them to the Doctor with a half-smile. "Are these what you're looking for?" he asked.

The Doctor snatched them from the human's hands without a word, then promptly turned over onto his side with the boots pressed protectively against his chest. I smiled and walked around the bed so I could see the Doctor's face. I crouched down again and smiled at him.

"Are you alright, Doctor?" I asked softly. "Now that you have your shoes?"

He looked at me with a blank expression. I exhaled through my nose and stood up, figuring that maybe he just as feeling a little foggy after his regeneration. But when I started to walk away, he cleared his throat a little and winked at me. I grinned and patted him on the shoulder as I returned to my chair.

"Fetch the sphyg, would you, nurse?" Doctor Henderson asked from his desk. "I'll take his blood pressure again while I'm here."

Nurse Dorward nodded and left immediately. I sat down and crossed my legs again. After looking around to make sure Henderson wasn't looking, the Doctor sat up a little and started shaking his boots. A key fell out of one of them and we both smiled. Then the Doctor stuffed his shoes under his pillow and lay on his side again.

I tapped his shoulder from behind and asked in the softest voice I could manage, "Would you like me to hold onto it?"

He was about to respond when a hand came up from behind me and cupped my mouth. I gasped and pulled against the hand frantically. When I saw a strange man in white hospital clothes come around the Doctor's bed and place tape over his mouth and knock him unconscious, I suddenly felt like the biggest idiot in the universe; I had known this would happen, but had completely forgotten because I was so focused on watching over the Doctor as best I could. And because of me, we were both about to be kidnapped.

The hand moved from my face and harshly gripped my right arm, twisting it behind my back. I felt a thin, cylindrical object pressed into the small of my back and heard a soft click; a gun. "If you try to run, we will shoot both of you. Do you understand?"

I nodded stiffly. The man who had knocked the Doctor unconscious had brought a wheelchair into the room and dumped the alien into it. He then looked directly behind to who I assumed was my captor and nodded. I was roughly shoved forward to stand next to the Doctor.

"You will follow and you will not try to escape," my captor ordered as I turned to face him.

As we walked out of the room, I noticed that Doctor Henderson had been knocked unconscious as well. But I couldn't help him or the Doctor or myself if I got shot trying to escape, so I followed my orders and walked next to the wheelchair.

* * *

We had walked outside of the hospital, one man holding a gun against my back and the other wheeling the Doctor forward. I noticed with no small amount of relief that the Time Lord in question had woken up once we reached the ambulance outside. The man pushing the Doctor's wheelchair had backed up and started to walk up the ramp leading into the back of the ambulance when the Doctor elbowed him in the side and rolled away. I threw my elbow back and hit my captor in the neck, then brought my foot up behind me and kicked him in the knee. He cried out and dropped his gun, his leg giviving out and causing him to fall. I kicked him again in the stomach, grabbed his gun, and ran after the Doctor as fast as I could.

Behind me, I could hear the men shouting angrily at me. Then I heard the ambulance start up and I immediately pushed myself to go faster. The road the Doctor had wheeled himself down was very steep and rough, which meant that I stumbled often and nearly fell at least three times. To my surprise, the ambulance whizzed past me without stopping. I was beyond relieved to know that I wasn't about to die.

I caught a glimpse of an over-turned wheelchair on the side of the road and dug my feet into the gravel to stop myself. I tripped, sliding forward and falling on my side. My hands and knees were scratched a little, but I paid them no mind. All I could think about as I stood up was getting to the Doctor before the Brigadier's men started shooting at him. I heard rustling in the tres ahead of me and rushed forward to see the Doctor pushing at the branches in his face.

"Doctor, wait!" I called as he walked forward. "Stop!"

He turned and looked at me, tape from our would-be captors still across his mouth. I burst forward and grabbed his arms, pulling him backwards and away from the soldiers guarding the TARDIS. I reached slowly for the tape and rubbed my thumb across the corner. "You need to take this off so you can talk," I said gently.

He nodded and slowly started to peel it off. Right as he did, two UNIT men with guns stepped through the bushes in front of us. Their weapons were aimed straight at us and their faces were hard and suspicious.

"Who are you?" the one on the left asked.

"I-I'm Diana and this is the Doctor. That's his police box you're guarding."

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" the one on the right countered.

The Doctor and I looked quickly at each other with worried expressions. "Well," the Time Lord started slowly, "how else would we know about it if it wasn't ours- mine? And why else would either one of us be here if we didn't absolutely need it?"

He took a step forward with arms raised slightly, trying to appear harmless, when both men raised their guns. I rushed to stand in front of the Doctor with my arms parallel to the ground, protecting him with my body for the second time that day. The two men looked from my face to the gun in my hand. My eyes were wide and my chest was rising and falling quicker than normal, but in my mind the Doctor was safe.

"Don't you dare," I all but growled. "Shoot him and I'll punch your lights out."

**I was having a hard time with the previous story I'd chosen for this story, so I deleted it and decided to work on this story instead. Writing a fic based on an audio drama is more difficult than you would think...**

**Anywho, I hope you like this chapter as a replacement.**


	7. The Spearhead From Space: Part 2-3

**A/N: Here we start to introduce Diana and the Doctor's relationship. Let's hope it ends well.**

Behind us, a small group of men from UNIT and the hospital approached with their guns drawn as well. I all but lost my mind in confusion; the story had not gone in this direction back home and I knew it had changed because of me. That meant that I couldn't be completely sure that I was doing the right thing to protect or save anyone and that terrified me.  
I slowly bent over and placed the gun in my hand on the ground so I wouldn't appear as a threat. With my eyes trained on the men who were previously guarding the TARDIS, I blindly reached behind me to grab the Doctor's hand. He gently tugged on my arm so that my back was pressed against his chest. A sigh escaped my mouth as I realized that we were probably not in a very good situation due to my holding a gun.  
"Look, uh, I'm sorry," I said softly as I looked at the guards. "We were about to be kidnapped, which is why I have a gun. I-I stole it from my captors. But they, uh... They got away. Sorry."  
The men behind us circled around our sides with their guns lowered. I frantically looked for the Brigadier, but found that he wasn't with any of the men. I looked back at the Doctor and nervously bit my lower lip. He looked down at me and widened his eyes as if to say that he didn't know what to do either.  
I turned back to the group of men and smiled nervously. "This is the Doctor, for those of you who don't know. I'm Diana Scott. We're friends and we're completely harmless. The Doctor is UNIT's scientific advisor, if I haven't got his timeline all messed up."  
One of the men I recognized from the hospital, Munro I think, spoke up. "If the two of you could come back with us to the hospital, then we can re-admit this Doctor and take you to see the Brigadier. He'll want to speak to you about this."  
I nodded. "Yes, of course."

* * *

Munro, his soldiers, the Doctor, and I had just stepped onto the gravel driveway of the hospital when the Doctor suddenly cried out. He lurched forward and I just barely managed to catch him before his sudden weight made my knees buckle. I fell on my knees and the Doctor landed on his side with his arms sprawled across my thighs.  
"Someone, help!" I cried worriedly.  
The men who had escorted us back to the hospital came to my side and picked the Doctor up and carried him inside. Munro stayed behind, after giving his men orders, and told me to follow him. My instructions were to wait for the Brigadier to arrive, tell him what had happened, and then wait for Munro to return so that he could take us both to see the Doctor.

* * *

"Do you know why he went unconscious?" the Brigadier asked.  
I exhaled softly. "Well, I _think_ so. Since he's just gone through a traumatic regeneration, his body's still... cooking. He's going to be exhausted and confused and everything in between. That's why he's been going on about his stupid shoes for the last hour... Most likely."  
Alistair nodded. He then gave me a tiny smile and rested a hand on my shoulder. "Are _you _alright?"  
"Me? Oh, yeah. Of course."  
"Well, you were nearly kidnapped and shot. And heaven knows what else you've been through. So it's perfectly natural for you not to be alright."  
I couldn't help but smile at the Brigadier's kindness and concern. His own smile grew in return and he looked almost fondly at me. "I've been through a lot, you're right. But I'm alright. The Doctor's been with me through all of it and he's been very understanding."  
"He cares for you."  
"I should certainly hope so!" I replied with a laugh. I thought back to the kiss he'd given me in his ninth incarnation and couldn't help the feeling of hope that he did more than just care about me. "Otherwise-... Well. Nevermind."  
The Brigadier smirked and pulled his hand back, casually resting his arms behind his back and looking around. He seemed terribly pleased with himself and I wondered if I'd just said something that made my crush on the Time Lord more obvious than necessary.  
_Does he care about me? _I wondered. _If he doesn't, then none of this makes any sense. I mean, he cares about all of his companions and even the ones that never really travelled with him. So what makes me so special? He did kiss me, after all. And take me on a date. And give me a journal that's all but identical to River's. Does that mean he cares for me more than all his other companions?_ I shook my head and just barely kept myself from snorting. I sighed in disappointment. _You're overthinking and over-reacting. Try concentrating on important things like the details of the plot of this episode. Try not to get killed, either._

* * *

"Unconscious?" Alistair questioned.  
Doctor Henderson nodded. "Yes, he's more unconscious than anyone I've ever seen. Have a look at this EEG."  
"EEG?"  
"This machine registers the electrical activity of the brain. Normally the line fluctuates considerably, even when the patient is unconscious."  
Munro raised an eyebrow. "Not a lot going on, is there?"  
Henderson nodded again. "Nothing whatsoever. Completely passive."  
"What is the cause, then?" the Brigadier asked a little confusedly. "Could it be shock?"  
"Could be, but I doubt it. No, he's is such a deep coma that I'd say it is-..." Henderson stopped himself from continuing his sentence, probably feeling that he would sound ridiculous if he continued his thought.  
"Is what?"  
"Self-induced."  
"Is that possible?"  
"Yes," I said lowly.  
Doctor Henderson gave me a strange look, but continued. "For you or for me, no. But we're dealing here with a completely alien physiology. All I can do is guess."  
I smiled slightly and crossed my arms over my chest. "I can assure you that it is perfectly normal. For him, at least it is."  
The Brigadier looked from me to Henderson. "Well, is it safe to move him?" he asked slowly.  
"I honestly don't know, but I'd advise against it." Henderson looked at me for an answer.  
"Well," I started, "I don't actually know. But most likely not."  
Alistair sighed. "Oh, very well. You'll keep me informed of any change in his condition?"  
"Yes, of course."  
"Thank you."  
"Oh!" Henderson exclaimed as the Brigadier started to leave. "By the way."  
"Yes?"  
"We found this in his hand when he was brought in. We had to pry his fingers open. He was really hanging on to it."  
Henderson held up the key to the TARDIS. I gasped a little, instinctively concerned seeing it the hands of someone not the Doctor or one of his companions. The men all looked at me in confusion for a second before looking back at one another. I desperately wanted to hold on to the key myself, but wasn't sure how good of an idea it was. I knew that Alistair would keep it safe from anyone who might want to steal it, mostly, but the desire to protect it myself was surprisingly strong. Ultimately, as it was supposed to, the key ended up in the coat pocket of the Brigadier.  
"Would you like to come to UNIT headquarters with me, Miss Scott?"  
I smiled and shook my head. "Sorry, Brigadier. I'd prefer to stay with the Doctor. Just to look after him."  
He smiled in return. "Of course. Be careful, now. And goodbye."  
"Thank you, I will be." I waved in farewell. "Bye."  
I returned to my chair once the Brigadier left, resting my hand over the Doctor's and gazing adoringly at his face.

* * *

I jerked awake, blinking wildly and looking about myself. The Doctor was crawling silently out of his bed, but he had accidentally bumped my knee with his foot as he stood. He bent over to grab his shoes and held them at his side. When he tiptoed out of the room, I quietly followed him so that I could keep looking after him and make sure he didn't do something incredibly stupid.  
Two men were at the right end of the hallway and the Doctor was already sneaking down the left end in his hospital gown. I smiled and tiptoed after the Time Lord.  
"Good journey down, sir?" one of the men behind me asked.  
"Terrible!" the other man replied gruffly. "You know, there's no room for a decent car on the roads these days."  
Ahead of me, the Doctor entered a room labeled 'Doctors Only.' I smirked at the irony and was sure the sign was the main reason he chose to enter the room. Knowing that I wouldn't be able to hide from the Doctor once I entered the room, I quickly opened the door and slid through the entrance. The Doctor whirled around in moderate surprise with his hospital gown up around his thighs.  
"Diana?"  
I knew that my entire face had turned bright red, so I turned around to face the door I had just come through. "Trying to get rid of me, Doctor?" I asked as casually as I could manage.  
"I didn't want to wake you."  
I couldn't think of any kind of coherent response I could possibly give the Doctor. I was blown away by his sweetness at not wanting to wake me and completely mortified that I had walked in on him undressing. My mouth moved soundlessly for a few long seconds before a strange seal noise escaped my mouth. I felt the rest of my face and neck turn bright red and shook my head.  
"I'll just wait outside?" I half asked and half stated. He said my name as I reached for the door handle in front of me. I paused and swallowed noiselessly. "Yeah?"  
"Thank you for being with me when I-..."  
I noticed the Doctor's voice had seized up. Knowing he had limited time to escape the hospital and find the Brigadier and Liz, I quickly ran into the Doctor's arms and gave him the biggest hug I could manage. His arms closed around my shoulder blades and squeezed lightly. I obviously had no idea what emotional and physical pain he experienced when he regenerated and most likely never could. But he seemed to appreciate not being alone when it happened.  
"I'll always be there for you, Doctor," I whispered. "I promise. I will do whatever is in my power to make sure that I am always there for you when you regenerate. You should never have to be alone for something like that."  
He sighed, his chin resting on the top of my head and his breath gently rustling my hair. I smiled and snuggled up against his chest; the faint beating of his hearts against his breastbone was strangely comforting. I assumed it always would be a source of comfort for me, knowing that he was real.  
Then I remembered that he was on a schedule of sorts and had to hurry out of the hospital. Coughing lightly, I stepped out of his arms (though I really didn't want to) and silently fixed the hem of my shirt. Our eyes met when I brought my head up for a brief moment and I felt my breath hitch in my throat. His eyes shone with thanks and something else, something I could not identify. I smiled and absently rubbed my left forearm.  
"I'll go find our get-away vehicle," I said with a wide grin.  
Then I turned on my heel and walked out of the room with my head held high. He'd appeared to be amused that I knew what he was planning. Once again, I wondered how much about myself he knew in this incarnation.

* * *

The Doctor came jogging out of the hospital doors, a red and black cloak fluttering behind him. I couldn't help but admire how he looked in his new attire, of which I approved greatly. I was leaning against the canary-yellow roadster he would eventually call Bessie with my arms folded across my chest and a smile. The Doctor approved of my choice with a nod and climbed into the car, fiddling with the controls as I climbed awkwardly in after him. The horn suddenly went off, making me let out a tiny shriek and jump about two feet in the air.  
I sat down next to the Time Lord and gave him a glare. "I see the horn works," I commented dryly. He ignored me and started the engine. I chuckled when I noticed he couldn't figure out how to go into reverse. "It's right there," I said and pointed my finger.  
I was ignored once more and Bessie backed out of the parking spot. We took off at a comfortable speed down the road our kidnappers had taken hours earlier.  
It felt incredible to be in the roadster with the Doctor next to me and the wind frantically tossing my hair around my face. My eyes stung from the cold wind and lips were partially chapped, but it was completely and brilliantly wonderful.  
I looked over at the Doctor with a slightly open mouth. His hair was being whipped about just as wildly as mine and his frilly shirt was being abused as well. My eyes remained glued to his features, taking in every line and wrinkle. His new incarnation was much older than me in appearance, which might have been unattractive to any other normal girl my age, but I found his face very pleasing to the eye.  
"Do you like my new face?" the Doctor asked out of the blue, his eyes still trained on the road.  
Realizing I'd been caught staring, I quickly turned my head so I was looking at the road instead of the Time Lord. I heard the Doctor chuckle and felt my cheeks burn in embarrassment for what must have been the millionth time that day.  
"No," I grumbled.  
"Oh really? Then why were you staring?"  
I looked over at him and sighed in exasperation. "Well you seem awfully full of it today!"  
The Doctor took his eyes off the road for a moment, looked at me, and said, " 'I happen to like it very much, Doctor.' Weren't those your exact words to me?" Then he looked back at the road with a pleased smirk.  
"How could you... possibly remember me saying that?"  
"Time Lord," he responded smugly.  
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. A smile worked its way onto my face as I slowly ran a hand through my hair. "Oh, because you're _so _impressive with your superior Time Lord brain and all."  
"I am _very_ impressive, Diana, and don't you forget it."

* * *

The Doctor drove into the underground garage we were approaching, slowing his speed only slightly. A security guard stepped out from a booth on the right side of the car. The guard ordered the Doctor to stop the car and not go any farther.  
"All right, all right, I suppose you want to see my pass?" the Doctor snapped in annoyance. "Yes, well, I haven't got one. And I'm _not_ going to tell you my name, either. Now you just tell Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart that I want to see him." The guard blinked in confusion and simply stayed rooted to the ground. This aggravated the Doctor even further and he snapped at the man again. "Well, don't just stand there arguing with me, man! Get on with it!"  
Without another moment of hesitation, the Doctor drove forwad and parked Bessie in the garage. He jumped out of the car with a grace that I envied. I tried to copy his movements, but ended up falling on my rear end on the asphalt instead. Hoping he hadn't seen my less than elegant fall out of the roadster, I jumped to my feet and jogged to catch up to the Doctor,  
He was walking at a very quick pace that made it difficult for me to keep up with due to my somewhat short legs. But I did my best to look as though the brisk pace was nothing but a walk in the park for me. We walked to the opposite end of the garage where we stepped inside an elevator and rode two floors up to UNIT Head Quarters. When we stepped out of the elevator, the Doctor pulled his left sleeve up to reveal a wristwatch that was beeping.  
"What's that?" I asked, leaning against his shoulder to see the watch better.  
"A homing device. It's locked onto the TARDIS."  
"Oh... That's clever."  
The Doctor looked at me the same time I looked up at him. He smiled and said, "Isn't it?" Then he held out his hand to me and I took it immediately. "Let's go see the old girl."  
We took off at a jog, hands intertwined. During the few adventures I'd had with the Doctor, I had already come to love the feeling of his hand wrapped around mine and adrenaline pumping through my veins as we ran. The feeling was no different with Three; in fact, it was better.

* * *

"Ah, there you are, my dear fellow. I expect you're wondering how I found you here?"  
The Brigadier didn't seem surprised to see either one of us. "Yes," he said with a sigh.  
The Doctor showed off his wrist watch. "Fortunately I had this with me, you see. It homes on the TARDIS." He turned to his left and saw the TARDIS. "Oh, there she is. How nice of you to look after her for me. Do you happen to have got the key, by the way?"  
"I do, but it won't work."  
The Doctor only smiled. "Ah ha! But it will for me."  
The Brigadier shook his head when the Doctor held hand out for the key. "Not so fast. I have a lot of questions to ask you."  
"My dear Brigadier, it's no earthly good asking me a lot of questions. I've lost my memory, you see?"  
Alistair raised an eyebrow. "How do I know that you're not am imposter?"  
"Ah, but you don't, you don't. Only I know that. Well, and Diana." The Doctor paused and looked from me to the Brigadier. "What do you think of my new face, by the way? I wasn't too sure about it myself to begin with. But it sort of grows on you. Very flexible, you know."  
I laughed when the Doctor started wiggling his eyebrows. I tried wiggling my eyebrows in response, but received a disapproving look from Liz and the Brigadier. "Sorry," I mumbled shyly.  
"Could be useful on the planet Delphon," the Doctor continued, "where they communicate with their eyebrows... Well, that's strange. How on Earth did I remember that?"  
"All right, all right," Alistair agreed. "If I accept that you are the Doctor, there are still a lot of things... Oh, by the way, this is Miss Shaw."  
The Doctor wiggled his eyebrows at Liz with a smile. "That's Delphon for how do you do. Delighted, Miss Shaw, delighted."  
I wrapped my arm around the Doctor's elbow and smiled, giving Liz a small wave. "Hello," I said. "I'm Diana."  
"What are you a doctor of, by the way?" Liz inquired.  
"Practically everything, my dear."  
"From what we can gather," Alistair added, "you arrived last night in the middle of a shower of meteorites."  
"Did I really? How terribly exciting."  
The Brigadier sighed. "Well, objects from space, at any rate. You must realize that I can't let you go until I'm sure there's no connection."  
"I've no recollection of last night," the Time Lord protested. "That's most unfair."  
I nodded in agreement. "The Doctor was barely able to walk. He was incoherent last night! How could he possibly have any connection to it?"  
"Miss Scott, do excuse me, but you know I must be cautious when something like this happens."  
"I know," I responded with a sigh. "But this is the Doctor! You can trust me! It's really him! He's only got a different face."  
"What on earth are these?" the Doctor asked, pulling away from me and stepping towards the lab table Liz was leaning against.  
"Those are bits of what the Brigadier thought might be a meteorite," Liz explained.  
"Plastic?"  
I followed behind the Doctor, keeping my eyes trained on him. When I passed the Brigadier I noticed he raised his eyebrows and gestured for me to approach him. I glanced at the Doctor and then stepped towards Alistair.  
"Yes?"  
"Come to my office once the Doctor leaves. I'd like to speak with you."  
"Have I done something?"  
He shook his head. "No. I just need to speak with you."  
Behind both of us, the Doctor was still talking to Liz about the strange plastic objects. "Yes, well, you can tell from the shape this was a hollow sphere. I should think the space inside was about three thousand cubic centimeters, wouldn't you?"  
"Do I gather you're going to help us, Doctor?" the Brigadier asked, stepping past me.  
"If I do, will you give me the key to the TARDIS?"  
"Possibly."  
"Then go away and let Miss Shaw, Diana, and I get on with our work, there's a good fellow." Then the Time Lord, looking slightly irked, turned to Liz and asked, "Look, do I really have to call you Miss Shaw?"  
"No, Liz. Just Liz."  
"Ah, Liz. That's much better. Now, how many of these things actually came down?"  
The Brigadier answered, "About fifty, as near as we can estimate."  
"And you found only fragments, no whole ones?" the Time Lord questioned.  
"One, yes. But there was an accident. It disappeared."  
"Then the answer to your question's obvious, isn't it? By the time your search party arrived, the rest of these things had been collected. Collected and taken somewhere. The question is, where?"

* * *

"Where are you going?"  
I looked over my shoulder at the Doctor and smiled. "The Brigadier asked me to speak with him in his office."  
"Oh." He nodded slightly and offered me a half smile in return. "Well, come back right after. I need to... show you something."  
"Alright."  
Alistair was standing just outside the door, waiting for me when I stepped through the doorway. He smiled politely at me and told me to follow him. I acquiesced and silently trailed behind the Brigadier all the way to his office. A guard was standing by his office door and they saluted each other as the Brigadier opened the door and walked into the room. He held the door open for me, a welcome change from the life I had before the Doctor, and closed it silently behind me.  
"Please sit down, Miss Scott."  
I sat down at the chair facing directly opposite the Brigadier's desk. I instinctively crossed my legs at the ankles and folded my hands in my lap. A strand of thread was coming loose on the leg seam of my jeans and suddenly, I found it very interesting.  
"I need you to tell me about the Doctor, Miss Scott."  
"C-Could... Could I ask you something?" I asked nervously, avoiding the Brigadier's gaze.  
"Of course."  
"Well... Could you call me Diana instead? I-If you want me to call you Alistair, then you should call me Diana. I'd... prefer it." I heard him laugh, which confused me. I looked up and stared at the Brigadier. "What's so funny?"  
"I've heard you ask me that question more times that I can count, Diana."  
"Really?" I asked slowly.  
He nodded. "I can never tell how well you know me. Whenever we meet, it's always out of order."  
Shocked, I muttered, "T-That's how I meet the Doctor. I always meet him out of order."  
Alistair smiled kindly at me. "How long have you known him?" he asked.  
"Not long. I haven't met him from before this time in his life. But I've met him in his future. Four times."  
The Brigadier looked a little surprised at my response. "Only that long?"  
"Yeah..."  
His smile grew a little. "Interesting."  
I cleared my throat and shyly scratched the back of my hand. "So... Um, you wanted to talk about the Doctor?"  
"Yes, I did, Diana. I know you won't lie to me about the Doctor."  
I pressed my lips together. "Let me guess. You want to know whether this man is really the Doctor or not and if he is, you want to know how he changed and why. Am I right?" The Brigadier nodded, his hands folded and held against his lips. "Well, he is definitely the Doctor. I watched him regenerate. I-"  
"That's one thing I don't understand, Diana. What do you mean, he 'regenerated'?"  
"The Doctor's a Time Lord. He's alien. And the way he keeps himself from dying is to regenerate. His people, the Time Lords, exiled him and forced him to regenerate somehow. That's why his face and personality have changed, that's what regeneration does to a Time Lord."  
"But why would his own people force him to... regenerate? If he does it to keep himself from dying, then wouldn't it mean that his people tried to kill him?"  
I nodded. "I'm afraid so, Alistair."  
"Why would they want to do that to him?"  
"I don't know. I wish I did... He said something to me right before he changed, though. He looked up at me and tried to speak... It was hard for him to say much of anything since he was dying, but he said, 'I don't regret it.'" I stared absently in front of me, reliving those confusing moments when Two had transformed into Three. "He tried to smile and reach for my face, but he couldn't really..."  
The Brigadier's hand came to rest on mine, drawing me from my thoughts. I looked up at him and smiled weakly; he had moved around the desk to stand next to me. He slowly bent at the waist so he was at my level.  
"Are you sure you're alright?" I shrugged and gave him the slightest nod of my head. "Because you're my friend, Diana, and I know when you're not yourself."  
"I'm fine."  
There was a sudden knock at the door, startling both of us. The Brigadier stepped back, placing his hands behind his back, and calling for the person to enter. A UNIT officer opened the door and ushered in a middle-aged man who looked extremely worried.  
"Sorry to interrupt, sir, but this man said it was urgent that he speak to you."  
"Yes, of course, Mr. Courtney. Please, sit down."  
I quickly jumped up and offered the man my seat, moving to stand behind Alistair's chair with a polite smile. Alistair nodded in thanks at me and sat down.  
"So, Mr. ..."  
"Ransome, sir."  
"Mr. Ransome. Why have you come to talk with me?"  
Ransome glanced hesitantly at me. "Who's she?"  
"An honorable and trustworthy young lady, Mr. Ransome. Anything you wish to say to me, you can say to her as well."  
"Well, sir, I was at the factory I used to work at and-..."  
"Yes?" the brigadier urged.  
"There was a face, sir! A horrible face that tried to attack me!"  
"What did it look like?"  
"The face was smooth, shiny. It was plastic! Made in the factory," Ransome exlained frantically.  
"Why do you say that?"  
"Well, just before this thing came after me, I passed a whole line of them. They were all exactly the same.  
Alistair raised his eyebrows a little. "It's quite a story, Mister Ransome."  
There was a knock at the door and Liz entered.  
"Yes?"  
"Can I have a word with you, Brigadier?"  
"Not now, I'm busy."  
"This is rather important. You see, the Doctor thinks-"  
"Miss Shaw, your work in this laboratory is part of one big exercise. You'll have to be patient." The Brigadier turned back to Mr. Ransome and continued his questioning. "You say this, er, creature was armed?"  
"It took off its hand!" Ransome exclaimed. "And there was a sort of tube, and the whole of the arm appeared to be hollow. Well, you should see the hole it blasted in the wall!"  
Behind the Brigadier's back, Liz saw the TARDIS key, took it, and left. I slowly followed Liz out the door. when we were a safe distance from Alistair's office, I called Liz's name.  
"Liz! Wait for me!"  
She whirled around and stared at me. "You going to tell the Brigadier about me?" she questioned.  
"What? Oh, no. Of course not. I'm here to help the Doctor."  
"Alright," she said after a moment or two of hesitation.  
I smiled in relief. "Thank you."  
Liz looked me over again and exhaled softly. "Right. Well, follow me."  
With a nod, I stayed at Liz's side and walked with her until we reached the laboratory. Liz and I opened the door to see the Doctor waiting expectantly. Liz gave the key to the Doctor and he smiled.  
"I'm afraid he's going to be awfully cross with you," the Time Lord said.  
"Well, if you're quick," Liz suggested, "he mightn't even miss it."  
"Come here, Diana," the Doctor requested. "I'd like for you to help me."  
Knowing what would happen, I nodded and came over to the Doctor's side. He pushed the key into the lock and opened the TARDIS door.  
"It didn't work when the Brigadier tried to open it," Liz commented in confusion.  
The Doctor replied, "Well, that's because the lock has a metabolism detector. Now come along, Diana."  
He entered the TARDIS with me close behind, and instructed me to close the door. The TARDIS dematerialization sequence started, but it began sputtering and slowing down. There was the sound of a small explosion inside the console and huge clouds of smoke filled the room. The Doctor stumbled towards me, coughing into his arm. He grabbed me by the shoulders and pushed me backwards.  
"Out, out!" he ordered. "Come on, my dear!"  
I covered my mouth and stumbled coughing out of the TARDIS. Liz and the Brigadier were waiting for us, looking very put-out.  
"Just testing," the Doctor insisted innocently after he closed the TARDIS door. "I wanted to see if the controls-"  
"Doctor, you tricked me," Liz said in annoyance.  
the Time Lord sighed, realizing he'd been caught. "Yes. The temptation was too strong, my dear. It's just that I couldn't bear the thought of being tied to one planet and one time. I'm sorry. It won't happen again."  
The Brigadier held his left hand, his other hand resting at his side. "It won't? Give me the key, Doctor. "  
"Oh, must I? The TARDIS no longer works, as you saw."  
"Well, will you give me your word not to try to escape again?"  
"I couldn't escape now, even if I wanted to. They've trapped me here!'  
Liz tilted her head to the side. "Who have?"  
"That mean, despicable, underhanded lot! They've changed the dematerialisation code!"  
"The what?"  
"The code that allows the Doctor to make the TARDIS go from place to place," I explained.  
The Doctor shook his head. "It doesn't matter, you wouldn't understand anyway," he told Alistair.  
"There's a great deal that I don't understand. But one thing I did understand, Doctor, was that you promised your help."  
"Yes, well, I've tried to help you the best way I can, but I need more evidence. I need more to go on."  
"Well," said the Brigadier, "I think I may be able to help you."

* * *

Liz, the Doctor, and I had all returned to the Brigadier's office where Ransome was waiting patiently.  
"What made you go back to the factory?" Alistair questioned.  
"I wanted to try to talk to George on his own. And I wanted to get a look at that security area."  
"Do you think he's afraid of something?"  
"I don't know, but this other man who came in-"  
"Did you find out who the other man was?"  
Ransome nodded somewhat eagerly. "Yes, his name's Channing. Now, he seemed to have some sort of mental hold over George, almost as if he was hypnotized."  
The Doctor gave Alistair a glance. He had an almost-smile on his lips. "You know, Brigadier, I think perhaps a visit to that plastics factory would be in order, don't you?"


	8. The Spearhead From Space: Part 4

**Well. Here's the next chapter. I hope you guys like it to some small degree.**

The Brigadier nodded and ordered us all outside, following close behind. He initiated a brief conversation with the guard, explaining where we were all going. Then he caught up to the four of us, guiding us down UNIT corridors until we reached the garage. Alistair directed us to a UNIT vehicle, smething that looked like a cross between a van and a jeep.  
"Doctor, you, Diana, and Mr. Ransome go in the back," the Brigadier ordered sternly. "Miss Shaw, you sit up front with me."  
Ransome held open the backseat door for the Doctor and I and climbed in after us. We had barely managed to sit down before the Brigadier started the ignition and drove rapidly out of the garage. I found the brigadier's driving to be ever-so-slightly crazy for my liking and ended up gripping the Doctor's hand firmly during the entire drive. On the occaision when the vehicle would turn too sharply my shoulder would ram into the doctor's and I would all but fall in his lap despite the seat belt strapped across my chest.  
"Now when we reach UNIT field HQ," Alistair instructed gruffly, "I want Mr. Ransome to stay behind with my men. The rest of you are to follow me, but be _very_ cautious! I don't want anyone getting hurt, is that understood?"  
We all mumbled a low "yes" and remained quiet for the remainder of the ride.

* * *

Once we reached HQ, we all jumped out of the car and followed the Brigadier. One of his men, Munro, was standing next to a small trunk and an older looking man. "This man, sir," Munro explained. "He's found one of the meteorites."  
"Where is it?" the Brigadier asked.  
"At his house, sir. I was about to take a party and collect it."  
"Right. We'll go in my car. You know the way, Munro?"  
"Yes, sir."  
The Brigadier looked back at Ransome. "Oh, Mister Ransome, you don't mind staying here, right?"  
The Doctor smiled at the UNIT officer, looking a little worried. "Brigadier, I think we'd best leave now, if you don't mind."  
"Good."  
Liz, the Doctor, the Brigadier, and I ran back to the UNIT vehicle and jumped in again. Feeling a little confused and quite useless, I lightly tugged on the Doctor's coat sleeve. He looked down at me and smiled. "Yes, my dear?"  
"Where are we going? I got a little lost for a moment."  
"Mr. Seeley's house. He's the fellow who found the meteorites and hid them."  
"Gotcha."  
I looked away and leaned against the car door, but sat up again when the Doctor said my name. "Diana? I have a favor to ask."  
"Yes?"  
"When we get to Mr. Seeley's house, I want you to stay here in the truck."  
"But-"  
"No, don't argue. I know you want to come with me and help, but I'm not having you get stuck in the middle of all this. I don't even know how dangerous these meteorites are, so-"  
"But _I _do," I responded with a smile.  
"Yes, I know you do." He gently patted my cheek and rubbed the pad of his thumb across my skin. "But nevertheless, you'll be safe in the truck. Since I have no idea what's going to happen, I'm going to keep you safe and sound."  
I found it difficult to process a coherent sentence with the Doctor's hand caressing my face, but eventually managed to stutter, "W-Whatever makes you happy, Doctor."  
He smiled in relief and removed his hand. "Thank you."

* * *

Upon reaching Seeley's home, the Doctor, Liz, and the Brigadier practically flew out of the vehicle. The Brigadier had his gun drawn and ran over to a small group of his men who had their guns drawn as well. The Doctor and Liz stood by in silence, trying to look inside the windows of the old house. Then, after the Brigadier shouted out another order, the Doctor, Liz, and Alistair himself ran into the house.  
I kept my word to the Doctor and stayed inside the UNIT vehicle, but remained continuously worried for the safety of my friends. Although I knew that they all survived the Autons' attack, I was still worried that something would go wrong. Without even realizing it, I had started wringing my hands together and nervously rubbing the back of my neck.  
Less than a minute after the three had entered the building, I spotted a single Auton rush out of the house with Mr. Seeley's chest of meteorites. The Brigadier, Liz, and the Doctor were seconds behind him with the Brigadier firing shots at the alien. "Get a platoon out here fast!" Alistair ordered to his men standing by the truck.  
I watched as the Auton managed to escape UNIT soldiers, feeling relieved that none of my friends had been injured. The Doctor looked in the direction of the long-gone Auton as he walked slowly towards me. He opened the vehicle door and held his arms out to me.  
"It's safe now, I think," he said lowly.  
I gently gripped each of his arms and slowly lowered myself out of the truck. It wasn't until I was standing next to the Time Lord that I realized just how tall he was in his third incarnation. I had to tilt my head back a fair amount just to look at his face. He looked down at me with a somewhat grim expression.  
"I'm sorry it got away, Doctor," I mumbled. "I wanted to help, but... Well, I didn't really know how. And I promised you I'd stay in the truck."  
"Yes, thank you for listening to me, by the way. It's a nice change."  
"Now what's that supposed to mean?" I asked with my hands planted on my hips.  
For an instant, a melancholy look passed over the Doctor's face like a shadow passing over the sun. But the look was gone just as quickly as it had arrived and he was soon wearing a debonair grin. "Oh, nothing," he replied, slinging an arm around my shoulders and walking with me back in the direction of the house.  
Liz was tending to an injured Mrs. Seeley when the Doctor and I arrived right outside the Seeley home. The Doctor had found one of the special meteorites the Autons had been after and was examining it. Alistair was standing tall and firm beside me, his hands clasped behind his back as per usual.  
"How is she?" he asked Liz concerning the older woman.  
"All right as far as I can tell. I think we ought to get her to hospital, though."  
"Right. I'll lay on an ambulance."  
As soon as the Brigadier left to call for an ambulance, the Doctor spoke up. "You know, this really is most interesting. We must examine it in the laboratory."  
"What do you make of it?" Liz questioned the Time Lord.  
"Well, I was right about the shape, wasn't I? The signal must have been muffled by the metal of that trunk. It's most interesting."  
"Suppose it explodes like the other one?"  
"There's no reason why it should as long as we treat it gently. Unless, of course-..."  
Liz looked extremely worried when the Doctor paused. "Unless what?" she asked hesitantly.  
"It has a built-in destruct impulse. In that case, we'll just have to risk it." He looked over at me with raised eyebrows. "Am I right?"  
"You know, I really shouldn't say, Doctor," I replied casually, trying to cover up the fact that my memory of the fine details concerning his life was not completely up to par.  
"Doctor, suppose that thing comes back for it?"  
The Brigadier returned a few moments after Liz's worriesome question, Munro at his side. I shuffled awkwardly to the Doctor's side and wrapped my arm around his, leaning slightly against him as I looked expectantly at the two UNIT officers.  
"The creature got away into the woods, sir," Munro informed us.  
"Munro, I want a cordon round that plastics factory."  
"Very good, sir."  
The Brigadier looked from the retreating figure of Munro to Liz, and then to the Doctor and I. "That creature, robot, or whatever it was, obviously came from there. Mr. Ransome described something very like it."  
"Yes," the Doctor agreed, "and until we know a bit more about these things, I think we should move very cautiously."

* * *

The ride back to UNIT field HQ was slightly awkward; everyone was strangely quiet and I couldn't help but ponder my lack of memory over certain parts of the episode. It worried me that I couldn't recall most of the finer details which could help me help the Doctor. I didn't want to be a useless companion that the Doctor had to save all the time; I wanted to be his most useful and reliable companion, someone he didn't have to continuously worry about saving from fires and psychopathic aliens.

* * *

"But he couldn't just have walked out, sir. I've had a guard on the front of the tent all the time."  
"Never mind about the front," the Brigadier countered, somewhat annoyed, "what about the back? That's how he got away."  
"He must have cut his way out.," Munro commented upon seeing the back of the tent Ransome had occupied slit open.  
The Doctor shook his head. "No, he didn't cut his way out, but somebody cut their way in. This canvas has been ripped from the outside."  
"So they took him from under our very noses."  
"If Mr. Ransome is anywhere," the Doctor suggested, "he'll be at that plastics factory. So I suggest that we go there immediately."  
The Brigadier quickly gave out orders to his men and directed Liz, the Doctor, and I back to the UNIT truck. As we walked out to the truck, the Doctor moved his hand so that it collided with mine. His fingers intertwined with my fingers and squeezed my hand lightly. I looked up at him with a smile and he returned the gesture.  
"Promise me you won't get yourself into trouble, my dear?" he asked in a light tone.  
"I'll try," I said. "I really will."  
The Doctor opened the vehicle door for me and helped me in, closing the door after climbing in. He sat down immediately next to me and rested his hand on his leg so that it touched both his knee and mine. I shyly looked up at him from the corner of my eye and smiled a little. He smirked and gently patted my knee.  
I felt my cheeks heat up and quickly looked straight ahead. The Brigadier was looking at me through the rearview mirror and he seemed to be somewhat amused.

* * *

Liz, the Doctor, and I walked behind the Brigadier as we were escorted through the empty factory by a strangely silent woman. The woman took us to the office of the man who was in charge of the factory and while we waited, the Brigadier turned and happened to see a strange man staring at him through the shaped glass of another office door across the hallway. I jumped and grabbed at the Doctor's arm.  
"It's just a man," the Time Lord told me dryly.  
"Yeah, I think I know that," I retorted sharply. "He _startled _me."  
The Doctor simply chuckled and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. He pulled me against him and playfully stuck his hand in my hair, messing it up. I grumbled lowly, crossed my arms over my chest, and tried not to smile.  
The Doctor rested his cheek against my ear and whispered, "I did feel your hand on my cheek earlier, my dear. I wasn't entirely unconscious, you know."  
I looked at him in shock and embarrassment. I was about to stutter some lame excuse when the woman returned with a man whom I assumed to be the owner of the factory. The two looked at us with blank, serious faces and then ushered us inside the office.  
The woman left and the man introduced himself as Mr. John Hibbert, then offered us seats. The Brigadier, Liz, and the Doctor refused Hibbert's offer, but I politely accepted and sat down in front of his desk and quietly crossed my legs. Alistair proceeded to tell Hibbert why he was at the factory and relay Ransome's story about the Autons he'd had the misfortune to meet.  
"What an extraordinary story!" Hibbert said once the Brigadier had finished his story. "What made him say such a thing?"  
"We have to check on it, Mr. Hibbert, however extraordinary it may be."  
"I'd like to hear him tell this story in front of me."  
Liz quickly said, "He was coming with us but, unfortunately, he disappeared."  
"Ah, he was a brilliant young man in many ways."  
"Then why did you dismiss him?"  
Hibbert waved his hand dismissively. "Oh, he had some wild scheme for making electronic dolls. The design was quite impractical. He was very unpleasant when I turned him down."  
"So you feel he told this story just to cause you trouble?" the Brigadier asked.  
"I'm afraid so. It must have been praying on his mind."  
The Doctor looked down at his hands, then back at Hibbert. "What exactly are you making here?"  
Hibbert seemed frozen for a moment. I remembered that he was hiding the secret of the Autons and tried to consider different ways I could help Alistair and the Doctor stop the aliens quicker than they normally would have done on their own.  
"Er, plastic dolls of course, but our new line is display mannequins for shops." Hibbert tried to smile a little. "We send them all over the country."  
"And can these mannequins actually move?" the Doctor questioned.  
"Well, they're flexible, of course. That's why we've captured the market. But I can assure you, they can't move on their own."  
The Brigadier looked thoughtfully at the factory owner. "So Ransome may have been simply making trouble?"  
"I can't think of another explanation."  
The Doctor took a deep breath and rested his hands on the tops of his thighs. I could tell that he was suspicious of Hibbert and was ready to explore the factory and find Hibbert's secrets. "Yes, well," he said, "I think we've seen all we can possibly see here. I'm sorry if we've been a nuisance."  
"Not at all," Hibbert insisted. "I'll see you out."

* * *

Back at the UNIT laboratory, the four of us were having a discussion about Hibbert. "It was the man who led the raid on the hospital. I recognized him from his photograph," Alistair told us.  
"And what will you do now?" Liz asked.  
I looked over at the Doctor who had the Auton globe hooked up to what I had been told was an EEG machine. He didn't seem terribly invested in the conversation, but I figured he was probably listening all the same.  
The Brigadier gave the Doctor and a quick glance. "I've put a call through to General Scobie. If I can get his authority, I'll surround the place and raid it."  
"Here, come over here, you three," the Doctor encouraged with a wave of his hand. "Look at this."  
"Have you got something?" Liz asked as she came over with the Brigadier.  
"Yes."  
"What does that thing do?" Alistair asked with a gesture to the globe.  
"It measures mental activity. It's fascinating, isn't it?"  
Liz put a hand on her hip. "You mean there's some form of intelligence inside that globe?"  
"Yes," the Time Lord replied with a nod. "You know, it's as I suspected. This globe is only a container. I wonder whether we can communicate with it?"  
The Brigadier's intercom stared buzzing and he quickly grabbed it and brought it to his mouth. "Yes?"  
"Your call to General Scobie, sir," the man on the other end of the intercom said.  
"Good."  
I mostly ignored the Brigadier's conversation via intercom and payed attention to the Doctor instead. He was still fiddling with the Auton technology when I stood immediately next to him and stared curiously at the stange object. Suddenly he moved his hand to the side and hit one of the smaller objects on the table.  
"Oh dear, I'm terribly sorry," he apologized in a seemingly non-apolgetic tone. "Could you get that for me, Diana?"  
"Sure."  
I quickly grabbed it and moved to hand it to the Doctor. His fingers brushed slowly against my wrist as he took it from my hand. Thinking he hadn't meant to do it, I looked up at him with a smile only to find that he was staring right into my eyes. He was smirking a little and I knew that he suspected my crush on him. Shyly, I started to ask him if something was wrong but was interrupted by the Brigadier resting a hand on my shoulder.  
"What are you actually trying to do, Doctor?" he asked the Time Lord.  
"Well, it appears that in there we have what one might loosely call a brain. Fifty megacycles, Liz," the Doctor instructed his new assistant. "If we can establish the frequency on which it operates-." He was stopped mid-sentence when the globe sparked and a loud bang emitted from it. I instinctively grabbed at the Doctor's arm and pulled him back in case he were to get hurt. "Oh, dear."  
Liz approached us and said, "We overloaded the circuit, I think."  
"Doctor, you were saying that this is some kind of brain," Alistair commented.  
"Yes, or part of a brain. An intelligence." The Doctor nodded as he ran a hand across his face. "Yes, that's probably nearer the mark."  
"Sending signals somewhere. Where to?"  
"Well, the rest of itself, surely."  
The Doctor looked over at me and I nodded as I chewed nervously on my lower lip. I knew what the Autons were, what they were capable of, and I wanted to tell the Doctor but wasn't sure if doing so would ruin the way events were supposed to run.  
"The other globes that came down?" Liz asked.  
"Mm hm."  
"So, they're all part of one entity. Let's say a collective intelligence."  
The Brigadier looked suspiciously at the globe. "Can it see us?"  
"My dear fellow," the Doctor said amusedly, "it's not sentient."  
"No, our measurements prove there's no physical substance inside it," Liz added.  
"But, if it is has no physical form-"  
"No, once here it can presumably create a suitable shell for itself." The Doctor shook his head as he glanced over the globe again. He knew there was something very wrong with the globe. "Otherwise there'd be no point in coming."  
Liz's face lit up when she realized the answer. "The plastics factory."  
"Yes."  
The Brigadier's intercom buzzed again and he quickly moved to answer it. "Yes?"  
"General Scobie calling, sir."  
"Put him on. As soon as I get his authority, we'll move in."  
The intercom crackled a little and then a voice came through, saying, "Stewart? About that Auto Plastic factory. Yes, but it's off limits, I'm afraid. They've got some important work on hand. It mustn't be interfered with."  
"Sir, if you'll just-. Oh. He's hung up."  
I crossed and uncrossed my arms until I decided to interfere. "Brigadier, we have to go in anyways. There's some very dangerous stuff in that factory and if we don't go in and destroy it, then the world will end up getting destroyed instead. Do you understand?"  
He smiled. "Perfectly, Diana. I was just going to suggest that I go over the General's head and move in on the factory."  
I blushed and awkwardly looked down at the ground. "Oh... Sorry."  
He chuckled and looked at the Doctor. "I'll get on to the Home Secretary and if I don't get him to revoke that order, I'll go to UNIT headquarters in Geneva. That should work."  
"That's going to take time," the Doctor replied.  
"Time we don't have," I added.  
The Brigadier sighed and shook his ehad slightly. "The old fool. Just because he feels flattered they made a facsimile of him."  
"Facsimile?" the Doctor repeated slowly. "Of General Scobie?"  
"A plastic replica, yes. Apparently, they make these things for Madame Tussauds. It's one of their sidelines."  
"Oh my goodness. The waxworks."  
I was relieved that the Doctor had figured at least part of the plot the Autons had crafted. He didn't explain what he was going to do once he reached Madame Tussauds, but _I _knew. So I told the Doctor that I would stay behind at UNIT HQ while he went off and saved the world. But once he left with Liz in tow, I asked the Brigadier to give me transportation to the plastics factory.  
"I'm not a UNIT employee, so it's not against anyone's orders for me to go there, right?"  
He nodded as he considered my question. "That's true, but why would you want to go there?"  
"I know what's going on in there, Alistair, and even if I can't stop it, I can at least try and help the Doctor from inside. Somehow, I need to help him."  
"Do you even know how you're going to do it?"  
I shook my head. "No. But I know who and what is in that factory and I know what they're planning. I have to do something! I can't just sit here and be the damsel in distress, even if I am really good at it."  
"Of course the Doctor and I both want you to help us," the Brigadier said with a smile, "but neither of us want to put you in danger."  
"I can handle myself," I insisted. "I'm smart, I can figure out a way to stop those creatures if something happens to the Doctor."  
But Alistair put his foot down and shot down my request. "Diana, I will not allow it. I'm sorry. I know you want to help and I appreciate it more than you know, but while you are here you are my responsibility. And the Doctor would quite possibly ruin me should I let anything bad happen to you."  
"You won't let me go because you're afraid of the Doctor?"  
"And because you don't have a plan."  
"Well, he never has one _either_!" I protested childishly.  
"_No_. Now stay here, go in that police box and rest, wait for this whole thing to wash over. Do you understand?"  
"Fine," I grumbled.  
I watched the Brigadier leave the room in resignation. With a sigh of frustration, I kicked the lab desk. A small burst of pain shot up my leg and made me grunt a little. "Stupid desk," I muttered. "Stupid Autons, stupid me for not having a plan- Oh. Oh, wait a second. I _do _have a plan!"

* * *

I'd managed to sneak out of the laboratory without alerting anyone to my presence. Once I had gotten past some of the guards patrolling the halls, I managed to find the entrance to the car garage where the Doctor had parked Bessie earlier. Knowing she would be missing, I searched each car to see if, by some miracle, someone had left the keys in their car. With an incredible stroke of luck, I came across a Range Rover that had its windows rolled down and the keys in the ignition.  
I mumbled a half-hearted apology to the person whose car I was stealing and opened the door from the inside. Immediately after I had started the engine, a man came running out of nowhere. He was yelling and waving his arms in a frenzy. I panicked, reversing out of the parking spot and driving as quickly as I dared out of the garage.  
"Oh, God," I gasped once I was driving down the streets. "I've stolen a car. I've stolen a car from some guy who works for the British government! Aaaaaand I have no idea where the heck I'm even going or how to drive properly in a British car on British streets. I've probably broken about twenty driving rules already."  
My idea to steal a car and drive myself to the plastics factory on my own had seemed brilliant at first, but I had quickly realized that it was probably the stupidest idea I'd ever come up with. So I pulled over to the side of the road, stepped out of the car, and flagged down a pedestrian.  
"Excuse me. Sorry, I'm new here and I'm trying to get to a plastics factory. I can't remember the name or where it is. Could you possibly help me?"  
The man looked me up and down. "Sorry. Don't know where it is." Then he walked off with a disgusted look on his face.  
I waved at a few other pedestrians walking past, but they all ignored me. I had almost given up hope when a young woman who appeared to be in her late teens approached me. She smiled sweetly at me and waved.  
"Hello, Diana," she said in a voice I had heard countless times before. "Trying to find the plastics factory, I see."  
"Susan," I breathed in surprise. "How...?"  
"It's in your future and in my past. But you know we cannot discuss it."  
"Yes, I know."  
She smiled and gave me a hug. "Good," she said as she pulled away. "Now, this paper has directions to the factory. Be careful once you get there and try not to get yourself in too much trouble, even if you have already stolen a car."  
I couldn't help but laugh at her remark. "Oh Susan, thank you so much."  
"It's nothing. Now I've got to go. Grandfather's waiting for me."  
"Is he alright?" I asked. "Is he doing okay?"  
Susan grinned and nodded. "He's fine. Hobbling around in an old body, of course, but perfectly fine. Barbra and Ian are resting in the TARDIS."  
"Thank you, Susan."  
"Oh, that reminds me! This is for you, she added as she handed me what looked like a wallet. "Some woman with wild, curly hair saw me and asked me to give this to you when I next saw you. Don't know who she is, but she said she knew you."  
_River_, I thought with a smile. "Yeah, I know her. Thanks."  
"You're welcome. Good luck."  
She was gone in an instant, vanishing into the walking crowd on the sidewalk. I watched the young Time Lady walk away in confusion and awe. I wondered when I met her and how she came to trust me so completely, and I was all but frozen in shock that I had actually met the Doctor's granddaughter.  
I climbed back into the Range Rover and started the car again. I opened the wallet and found that that the only thing inside it was a slip of blank paper and empty plastic folders for what I assumed would be pictures. As I ran my fingertips across the blank paper, the surface shimmered slightly and a few words suddenly appeared.  
"Psychic paper!" I realized with a gasp. "She gave me psychic paper. Oh River, you are brilliant. And look, directions. Perfect. Susan, River, you are the most amazing girls ever.

* * *

"Excuse me, miss, but only those with clearance are allowed in the factory at this hour."  
I handed the man my psychic paper with a polite smile. "I believe I _do _have the clearance necessary, sir," I said.  
The guard's eyes grew a little wide and he nodded. He gave me back the psychic paper and pushed the button inside his booth that opened the gates. "Of course, ma'am. Pardon me. Please go right ahead."  
"Thank you very much," I answered before driving through the gates.  
I breathed a sigh of relief once I was out of sight of the guard. My heart was beating heavily in my chest and I was so flustered that I could barely drive. Once I parked near the entrance I had gone through earlier in the day, I looked at the psychic paper and saw what the guard had seen:  
_Dr. Diana Scott__  
__President of International Plastics Resources, Seceratary of Factory Affairs__  
__DOB: 1945 Height: 5'6"__  
_"Huh. I'm a doctor and president and a seceratary. And I was born... fifty-one years before I was actually born... Never thought this would work." I smiled and quickly slipped the wallet into my back pocket. "Now I'll go ahead and do some spying for the Doctor."

* * *

"So," I whispered absently to myself, "if the office is _that _way, then that room with all those Autons should be... this way. I think."  
I quietly walked down the hallway on my left, hoping that my destination would be somewhere in that direction. The walls were blank and brightly lit, which disturbed me a little because of the uneasy silence that accompanied it. At the end of the hallway was another hallway with a door at the intersection. The door was labeled "Control Room" and something in my gut told me that it was the door I was looking for.  
My pace quickened as I approached the door. With an outstretched arm, I reached for the door handle when I was but a few inches away. Suddenly the door flew open away from me and the man the brigadier had talked with earlier stood in front of me: Hibbert. He looked me up and down in confusion until his face lit up in recognition.  
"You were here earlier with that Brigadier fellow from UNIT. And two others, weren't you?"  
"Uh... Yes. Yes, I was," I replied nervously. "I'm here on my own this time, though. I don't work with any of them officially. We're just friends. Would you like to see my identification?"  
"Yes, I would."  
"Here you go." I reached in my back pocket and handed the man my new wallet. "Satisfied?"  
He looked it over and seemed to believe it. "Yes, I am. But I must take you to see my... colleague first. He'll most likely want to speak with you."  
"That's fine. Rules must be followed," I said casually.  
"Please follow me," he instructed.  
Hibbert walked back to the office I had first met him in earlier and knocked on the door. A voice on the other side of the door asked who we were and Hibbert responded, then opened the door. I stepped through the doorway and saw another man sitting at the desk; it was a man I recognized from the original episode.  
"Who is this?" the man asked as Hibbert closed the door behind me.  
"She was here earlier with those people from UNIT, Mr. Channing," Hibbert explained. "She said she's here on her own this time."  
Channing stood up from his seat and approached me. "Can you explain to me, miss, why you are here? Because I don't believe I was informed of your arrival and I do not permit spies in this factory."  
"My name is Doctor Diana Scott." I handed him my psychic paper with a smile. "My identification, sir. And I'm here to... inspect, if you will. Make sure everything's in order, you're doing what you're supposed to, look over your... archives. You know, that sort of thing. You understand, of course."  
Channing's face hardened for an instant before he offered me a polite smile and returned my psychic paper. "Yes, of course, Dr. Scott. If you'll come with me, I'll show you where you need to go. Hibbert, you stay here and inform me of any changes immediately."  
"Yes. I will," Hibbert answered.

* * *

"You have a very impressive factory, Mr. Channing," I remarked.  
"And you have a very impressive resume, Dr. Scott. A doctor at twenty-five?"  
I nervously cleared my throat and laughed a little to relieve the tension. "Please, call me Miss Scott. And the title is only honorary. I went to college at a very young age and just sort of worked my behind off."  
Channing gave me a strange look. "I can imagine so. Your job is quite incredible, especially for your age."  
"Thanks," I mumbled.  
"I think we should look at the control room now. I think you'll find it very interesting."  
"Oh? Well, you know best."

* * *

"This, as you can see, is the control room. We store some of our mannequins in here to a keep a visual reminder of our progress fresh in our minds."  
I continued to glance warily at the Autons, worrying that they would attack me when I turned my back. I quickly considered what I should do if one of them tried to kill me. _If one of those creatures does try to kill me, I can just hold my breath and pretend to be dead, then wait for the Doctor to arrive,_ I told myself. _Meanwhile, I'll try and figure out a way to disable that machine the Autons are using.__  
_"This machinery looks very advanced," I told Mr. Channing. "It's quite impressive."  
He smirked. "Yes, it's our most important piece of equipment."  
"Really? Why's that?"  
"Because it controls the other Autons and with that power, I can control the world!"  
I looked back over my shoulder and saw a small group of Autons staggering towards me. Their arms were outstretched and their hands had opened to reveal a gun. Terror gripped my heart and I froze completely.  
"Kill her!" Channing ordered with a grimace.  
I gasped and staggered backwards in an attempt to get away from the horrible aliens. But I only tripped over a metal bench and landed on my back.  
"No! Please, no! Call them off!"  
Channing shook his head. "I can't have a silly little girl ruining all my plans. Besides, my dear Miss Scott, your lifeless body will be perfect bait for that Doctor."  
An Auton aimed its hand straight at my head. I shrieked and tried to stand, but found that my legs were limp and useless. The shot hit my right arm and immediately after horrible bursts of pain spread throughout my body. I screamed and cried until my world faded into inky darkness and I felt no pain.


	9. Important Author's Note Please Read

Hello again. I'm working on the next chapter, but have hit a bit of a speed bump. I really want to write an original story with all 11 Doctors (and write "The Day of the Doctor" at another time) but am having trouble with it.

I came up with the idea that the Great Intelligence, having failed to kill the Doctor because of Clara's sacrifice, gathered all 11 Doctors together at one point in his time stream and tried to kill him that way. I realized that it was very similar to "The Five Doctors" and worried that it would be too repetitive or mainstream.  
So if you guys have any idea, I'd be glad to hear them. I will certainly make a notice in my chapter about your lovely idea if I do end up using it.

Thank guys. All my love, Artemis Sherwood.


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